Dulce Est Decorum Est and This Is the Dark Time, My Love

Neither fame nor glory can compensate for the immense suffering that war inflicts on humanity. “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” is an ‘old’ lie told to youths ardent of joining the army. Not only are the targeted victims oppressed, but the soldiers who risk their lives fighting for their countries are left horrified. In both “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “This is A Dark Time, My Love”, the intimate experiences of the personas give first-hand insights of the terrors and tortures of war.

Imagery, pathetic fallacy and language vividly create the ghastly image of war. This is The Dark Time, My Love” is about a people whose dreams of a better life have been threatened by the destructive power of the “strange invaders. ” The persona conveys his intense anger against the British military presence and his belief that their rule is wrong and they display total injustice. Additionally, the persona accentuates the subjection, devastation, death and anger of the people of Guyana. It focuses on the “dark time” that the people are facing that the experience of the war where “all around the land brown beetles crawl about”.

Everywhere the faces of men are strained and anxious” tell of the fear and tension that the victims feel. Even nature is sympathetic as “red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow. ” The poet laments of the misery of his people, the instability of his people and the sorrow brought by these “strange invaders”. In “Dulce et Decorum Est”, a soldier vividly describes the horrors of war as he hopelessly watches one of his comrades being “gassed. ” Returning from the battle-field, “bent double,” coughing and limping with blood-shod feet, they had not heard the gas-filled shells being dropped.

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Luckily, most of the soldiers managed to escape, but unfortunately one of his comrades did not. As the persona recounts the traumatic experience, he lashes out at all who thinks that it is glorious and honourable to die for one’s country. The impact of the incident on the persona is one of loathing and revulsion. Both poets use imagery which is striking and graphic to inform us of the terrors of war. In “This is The Dark Time, My Love,” the visual image of the soldiers, “all around the land brown beetles crawl about”, in their thick armoury is like the beetles who have hard shells on their backs.

All around” and “crawl” creates the image that they move around in large uniform masses, just like beetles. The word “crawl” also presents the image of the soldiers moving sneakily and invading the land with stealth. “Who comes walking in the dark night time? / Whose boot of steel tramps down the slender grass” creates the visual image of the soldiers, who can walk through the dark night fearlessly, unaffected by the dark times. An auditory image is also created as the tramping of the soldiers can be heard as they walk on the unthreatening, impotent grass.

Imagery in this poem is used to describe the ways in which war oppresses innocent victims, whereas in “Dulce et Decorum Est”, similes are used to create images of the struggles soldiers face on the battlefield. The simile, “bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, is vivid as one can actually picture the soldiers “drunk with fatigue” and trying to make their way back to camp. They are hopeless and tired and though fighting for one’s country is said to be honourable, they are being compared to beggars. This line contrasts with the title of the poem.

Both the visual and auditory image of the “knock-kneed” soldiers “coughing like hags” shows the choking effect of the smell of the gas. Their coughing sounds like that of an old, tired person, which they in fact are. They cannot breathe and being compared to ‘hags’ emasculates the soldiers. Pathetic fallacy is used in “This is the Dark Time, My Love” since even nature was in a state of sadness at the oppression of the society.

This is seen by the personifications, “The shining sun is hidden in the sky/Red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow. The flowers appear to mourn the people in the dark time who are victims of the violence of the soldiers and the suppression by the colonial powers. It seems as if the wilting flowers, whose stems are usually drooping, are actually bending their ‘heads’ in sympathy with those who have to live through the dark times. The “shining sun” represents hope and prosperity. It is unable to penetrate through the “dark times” where the people are hopeless and in despair.

The sun being hidden in the sky reflects that there is no hope for the society. The emotive and intense language used in “Dulce et Decorum Est” tells of the anger, revulsion and disgust the persona feels about being part of the war. “He plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning, “white eyes writhing in his face” and “blood come gargling from his froth-corrupted lungs” evokes sympathy in the reader. The soldier’s comrade did not die instantly from inhalation of the gas, he suffered before he died.

In all the persona’s “smothering dreams,” he never thought he would experience anything like that. “Like a devil’s sick of sin” compares war to the devil who offers no good and will never be sick of sin. War only offers pain and suffering and it is as if those who declare war are in fact devils. “This is The Dark Time, My Love” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” both aim to convey the universal message that the stereotypical assumptions about war and fighting for one’s country are lies. Both poems tell of the atrocities of war and that war affects everyone.

In “Dulce et Decorum Est,” the persona remarks that the battlefield is a horrifying experience and that many are scared for life and left feeling helpless and hopeless. The main comment the persona is trying to make is that dying for one’s country is neither noble nor honourable as people claim it to be and those anxious for glory should not buy into this belief. It emphasizes how much they had to suffer and the message received is that war is not worth the trauma and agony they have to endure.

In “This is The dark Time, My Love,” the persona indicates that war is so dehumanising that even nature makes a statement as pathetic fallacy. The persona also refers to war as “the season of oppression . . and tears. ” This alludes to the hostility and brutality to which the Guyanese are subjected and their suffering as a result. It goes on to say that it is a “festival of guns” and “Carnival of misery” showing that violence is so rampant, it seems to be a celebration.

War imposes itself on the nation’s culture and robs the nation of its independence and dreams; “aiming at your dream. ” War wreaks severe pain and distress on both soldiers and innocent, targeted people and this brings about the question whether war is really worth the suffering. Those who declare war do not endure the suffering and thus, preach that it is glorious to die for one’s country. However, as the both persona’s prove, it is no honour and certainly, no nobility to die for one’s country!

A Comparison Between the Poems ‘No More Hiroshimas’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’

The two poems have a similar message: war doesn’t change over time, lives will always be lost, and whether you are experiencing or remembering the war, the horror, sadness and suffering will be present.

The poem ‘No More Hiroshimas’ focuses on the reminders and memorials of the atomic bomb while ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ describes what war is like for an ordinary soldier. These poems have a lot in common, but at the same time they have their differences. The use of diction by both poets allows readers to understand that war is a terrible experience for people, and just as painful for people who are remembering it.In ‘No More Hiroshimas’, James Kirkup writes about how the memorials of the atomic bomb are filled with fake cheerfulness, and that they actually should be filled with sorrow and pain. It is clear that Kirkup believes that people are trying to forget and continue their lives in a happy manner. He writes “A kind of life goes on, in cinemas and hi-fi coffee bars. ” This implies that the life people live isn’t real, that it is a “kind of life” and fake.

He also goes on and writes that not only are the people pretending to be happy, but the memorials are just as false.The poet describes the “models of the bombed Industry Promotion Hall, memorial ruin tricked out with glitter-frost and artificial pearls. ” This suggests that the memorials are “tricked”, with its decorations being positive, and the use of “artificial” further emphasizes that they are just pretending to be joyful. On the other hand, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ straightforwardly describes the negative aspects of war. Wilfred Owen writes about how terrible war is for ordinary soldiers to experience.He portrays the soldiers as “All went lame, all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind. ” This here shows that they are so exhausted that they are “blind”, and unable to see anything properly, this is accentuated by the word “drunk” which indicates that there has been an overwhelming amount of fatigue.

In this quotation it is also clear that the poet is describing how dangerous and unexpected war is. One of the most deadly weapons used during World War One, which is when this poem was written, was gas.By depicting the gas as “dropping softly” it is like the gas is harmless and this gives the wrong impression because gas actually killed many soldiers. In both poems they similarly mention how the war can’t be forgotten, and how memories will always be there long after it is over. ‘No More Hiroshimas’ focuses more on how nature is scarred from war, and how it shows. The poet says “The river remains unchanged, sad, refusing rehabilitation. ” Here he is showing the readers that while the rest of the city is starting to recover, the river stays the same way, and won’t forget the atomic bomb.

Also, a river is a source of life, and when one is described to be “sad” it suggests to readers that there isn’t a lot of life left. ‘As mentioned before, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ also acknowledges the fact that war is unforgettable, and haunts the soldiers for the rest of their lives. He says that “In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. ” Here he is telling us that they are both “helpless”, with him being helpless because he is forced to watch it, and he can’t do anything.With the use of the “ing” at the end of three words, it emphasizes the movements of the soldier, and it also is a participial, which gives the impression that this is happening right now, and that it is continuous, showing us that this scene happens all the time during war, and that he is still disturbed by it. The strong use of imagery in both poems paints clear images in the minds of readers about war. Wilfred Owen uses imagery to unmistakably display to us how painful and disgusting war is, once again focusing mostly on the feelings and motions of the soldiers.

The reader is shown that the conditions that all the soldiers are in are very dreadful. The poet illustrates the soldiers to readers as “Bend double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed coughing like hags. ” Here the writer is allowing us to see how the soldiers unhealthy and weak, this contradicts the fact that soldiers are supposed to be powerful. The use of aural imagery, with the “c” and “ck” sounds make there two lines hard to say, which suggests how hard war is for people and how harsh it was for everyone. The reader also discovers that the death of a soldier is something disgusting and sick.The poet tells us that the soldier was “Obscene as cancer, bitter as the bud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues” This here indicates that the way the soldier looks like after the gas attack is so “obscene” and Owen uses these similes to describe to the reader just how bad it is. This could also be implying that the war is “incurable” and it will always be like a “sore” on the minds of soldiers, and with them forever.

‘No More Hiroshimas’ has equally as much vivid imagery, but instead of describing people, most of the imagery is depicting the poet’s surroundings. The majority of the imagery used is also more positive side, hich contrasts with the harsh negativity of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Although most of the imagery is used to express a lighthearted mood, the poem still is mainly about remembering the destruction of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which is actually is quite the opposite. The poet did this to show readers that no matter how carefree the people are, they will always remember the atomic bomb, which is why the poem constantly will have a section of positive imagery, and then immediately afterwards there is more depressing descriptions of things, which cancel out the happiness that could be felt before.He describes to readers the large amount of color and life there is in Hiroshima by writing “Shacks cascading lemons and persimmons, oranges and dark-red apples, shanties awash with rainbows of squid and octopus. ” With the use of imagery, the readers can clearly imagine the “shacks” with large amounts of brightly colored fruit just overflowing out, suggesting how there is a lot of life and energy. The “rainbows” of seafood also further emphasize the fact that there are millions of colors, and how healthy everything is.

There is also the use of contradicting something positive in one line, with Kirkup writing “A cheerfully shallow permanence” the use of this metaphor here has a slight sarcastic tone, and is very contrasting. There is one positive word, and then the word “shallow” suggests that this “cheerfulness” is unstable and superficial. The structures of ‘No More Hiroshimas’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ have a lot of similarities and differences, all which clearly link to the poets’ main messages.Both poems have an irregular structure, which could suggest to readers that war is unpredictable and can constantly surprise. They also both have a two line stanza in the poem that really summarizes the poems’ point. Wilfred Owen writes, “In all my dreams before my helpless sight he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. ” Additionally, James Kirkup tells us “Remember only these.

They are the only memorials we need. ” Because these two quotations are a stanza by itself, they both emphasize both poets’ words.The overall paces of the two poems are very different, but in some sections there are similarities. The pace of the first stanza of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ sounds staggered. This could suggest to readers the unorganized stumbling that the soldiers are marching like, showing how worn-out they might be. Alternatively, ‘No More Hiroshimas’ has a more flowing and dragged out pace, creating a sadder mood, with the whole poem written in full sentences. This contrast between the two show how being part of war is filled with exhaustion, and how remembering is sad and stretched over time.

The use of both Wilson and Kirkup’s punctuation additionally create a mood. Wilson uses exclamation marks to emphasize the desperation of the soldiers, while Kirkup only uses mostly commas and periods throughout the poem, slowing the poem down. Both poems have their own separate messages, and are portrayed in different ways, but the underlying messages are the same. Although one was written during World War One, and the other twenty years after World War Two, both poets agree on the horrors of war, and of all the sadness that lingers on people and their surroundings.

Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay

‘For the Fallen’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ are two very different poems indirectly expressing Wilfred Owen and Laurence Binyon’s views on war. The contrast of the poems is mainly down to when they were written as Binyon wrote his poem at the very beginning of the war, meaning the poem has a very propagandist and optimistic outlook on the war. He also wrote it before he visited the front in 1916. However Owen wrote his poem near to the end of the war, in hospital, after fighting on the western front.

Many of his close friends had died during the war, which probably influenced a lot of the anger in his poems. It is clear in Owen’s poem that he feels there is absolutely no honour in dying for one’s country. He describes a fellow soldier killed in a gas attack, ‘flound’ring like a man in fire or lime’ followed by, ‘behind the wagon that we flung him in. ’ The second quote gives the impression that this soldier is just one of many thousands of unnamed individuals who were killed and carted off without any funeral.

It gives a message to propagandists and people who think war is glorious, that it is nothing of the sort. Also Owen’s title ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, means: ‘It is sweet and fitting’. However the poem completely undermines the title saying the opposite and ending with ‘The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. ' Owen uses heavy irony in the title and could also be directing this quote at officers who originally led many soldiers to their death. By contrast, Binyon describes the death of the soldiers at war very differently: ‘Death august and royal’.

Binyon personifies death and makes it honourable, dignifying the death of the soldiers. Binyon also describes the dead soldiers ‘As the stars are known to the Night,’ which implies that they are always there, even if they are not seen in the day, but remembered in their family’s dreams every night. Furthermore the title: ‘For the Fallen’ is a euphemism, which like the poem avoids the fact that the soldiers actually died in many gruesome ways during battle. The images that Binyon and Owen create through their language in their poems are very different.

Owen’s descriptions are extremely graphic and create very strong images: ‘You could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs. ’ One can almost see and hear the reality of war through all these descriptions. Owen also manages to create a few quite unnatural and sometimes impossible images: ‘Dim, through misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. ’ The word ‘drowning’ gives us an image of someone drowning in air, which is impossible.

By doing this, Owen shows the extreme horror of having to watch someone die in a gas attack. Binyon’s imagery, by contrast, is much more idealised and glorifies the soldiers. There are many references to stars and the heavens: ‘immortal spheres’, ‘As the stars are known to the night’, ‘the heavenly plain’. In the penultimate line the word ‘stars’ is even repeated: ‘As the stars that are starry in the time of our time of darkness’. By comparing the soldiers to stars, Binyon is erasing any negative references to the horrors of war and creating an image of heaven instead.

The use of tone in the two poems is very contrasting as while Binyon adopts a very dignified, patriotic and mournful tone, Owen, on the contrary uses quite a pessimistic and sometimes aggressive tone. Owen does this by using spondees at the beginning of lines: ‘Bent Double’, ‘Knock-kneed’, and ‘Gas! Gas! ’ By putting two stressed syllables at the start of lines, Owen is avoiding a gentle iambic rhythm, and instead creating more of a chaotic effect which is helped by the sudden change to present tense. Owen also uses many words like: ‘sludge’, ‘blood’ and ‘zest’.

This sort of vocabulary adds to the poem’s slightly aggressive tone, with the use of quite hard-hitting and monosyllabic words. However, Binyon, on the contrary is much more formal and uses a mixture of latinate and anglo-saxon vocabulary creating both a warm but at the same time, respectful tone. Binyon also plays with word order, using inverted syntax: ‘They mingle not’, and ‘At the going down of the sun’. This gives the poem a greater sense of authority and importance, and even sometimes sounds slightly biblical: ‘Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit’.

In ‘For the Fallen’, the form is relatively simple with short four-line verses with the last line always slightly shorter. This could relate to the soldiers lives being cut short but interestingly, these last lines can also be of significance by themselves, describing the soldiers who died: ‘Fallen in the cause of the free’, ‘They fell with their faces to the foe’, ‘To the end, to the end, they remain. ’ The poem is also made up of antonymic lines, the structure being A, B, C, B. The rhyming 2nd and 4th lines represent the harmony of the poem, while the non-rhyming 1st and 3rd represent the disharmony.

There are also antonyms within certain lines: ‘music’ and ‘desolation’, ‘glory’ and ‘tears’. The rhythm of the poem is quite irregular, possibly to emphasise the fact that the subject of the poem is too important to give a ‘rum-ti-tum’ rhythm. Unlike ‘For the Fallen’, which is an elegy, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ is a narrative. The verses are longer in Owen’s poem, the first two stanzas 8 lines, and the last 12 lines. The four extra lines in the last stanza almost come across as a personal message from Owen himself: ‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest... Also, the last line of the poem, a bit like the ends of Binyon’s verses, is cut short representing the soldier’s lives being cut short: ‘Pro patria mori. ’ Not only this, but the fact that the poem ends with the word ‘mori’-death- again refers to the soldiers’ lives. The poem is also set out like a story as it starts by setting the scene, which is followed by the climax in the 2nd stanza, and then the ending. Owen uses alternate rhyme which knits all the lines together, making them flow.

The rhyme scheme also draws attention to the specific rhyming words at the end of each line which, if read alone, describe the events taking place e. g. ‘trudge’, blind’, ‘stumbling’, ‘drowning’, ‘blood’. Owen uses repetition to emphasise certain words: ‘Gas! Gas! ’, ‘All went lame; all blind’. The repetition of ‘gas’ creates much more urgency than if it was just written once. Also, the repetition of ‘all’ really makes the reader realise that Owen is trying to not just say it was one or two people who were hurt, but everyone.

Owen also uses caesura: ‘Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All... ’ The full-stops in the middle of the lines disrupt the rhythm and maybe draw attention to the fact that the marching is not orderly. Binyon, like Owen, uses some repetition: ‘Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit’, ‘To the end, to the end they remain’. The repetition, in this case, with its lulling rhythm, adds to the overall proud and majestic feel of the poem. Another word that Binyon repeats almost constantly through the poem is ‘they’.

This, in contrast to Owen who specifically describes one person dying in gory detail, unifies all the soldiers into one. Both ‘For the Fallen’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, in their own ways, describe soldiers who went to war. However, the two poems are opposite to each other in almost every way, as the points above show. Binyon shows us the glory of patriotism and self sacrifice while Owen shows the brutal reality of what it was truly like in the battlefield. These two poems show us how differently war can be described and interpreted.

Attitudes in Jesse Pope and Dulce Et Decorum Est

Compare the poets attitude to war in ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘Who’s for the game? ’ by Jesse Pope In this essay I will be comparing the poets attitudes to war in ‘Dulce et decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘Who’s for the game? by Jesse Pope. ‘Dulce et decorum est’ is about the unglamorous reality of trench life, while ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is a propaganda poem published in the Daily Mail encouraging young men to join the army. Both have different views and attitudes to war and there poems are quite different. Wilfred Owen’s poem is positive, whilst Jesse Pope’s is positive.

Although both poems are about war they have vastly different attitude to war. Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ encourages young men to join, promotes the positives and makes those who don’t join feel like outsiders. For example the ‘who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid? ’, which is implying that those who don’t join the war are afraid of the war. This is very effective because they use emasculation to make a man feel like less of a man. Furthermore their family would feel embarrassed and pressured by others who have joined the army.

Young men ,during that war, also thought that joining the army would be like an adventure and that they would have a blast. Many people also underestimated the war and assumed that it would all be over by Christmas. On the other hand ‘Dulce et decorum est’ focuses on the negatives aspects like death, war and the harshness of it. In the very first line Owen writes ‘Bent double, like beggars under sacks’ as soon as the reader starts the poem they already know that Owen is strongly denying the concept: ‘Dulce et Decorum est’- that it is sweet and honourable to die for your country.

By using that it sets the theme for the rest of the poem, which is about the untold story of trench life. While ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a poem about the reality of war, Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is promoting the war and portrays it as a game. She uses word and phrases usually used in sports such as: ‘grip’; ‘tackle’; ‘Signal to Go! ’ and ‘toe the line’. Using these words she makes the comparison between war and game more effective. On the other hand Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decdorum est’ is the hard reality of going to fight for your country.

Therefore he focuses on describing the soldiers’ vunerable and poor situation as already seen ‘Bent double, like beggar under sacks’. Instantly this sets the subject matter for the poem, by comparing soldiers, who are thought to be of as strong and healthy, to beggars. This comparison is effective because beggars are thought of as weak, dirty and vunerable, which is what he is trying to get the reader to imagine. Although the Pope’s poem is about war she had never experience the war first hand, compared to Owen who was a soldier and had actually joined the army.

Jesse Pope was a writer and journalist and her work was often described as being very patriotic as can be seen in ‘Who’s for the game? ’. Her attitude was that war was a game, and that young men should take part in the war. Pope was also part of the propaganda pro-war poets, who encouraged and pressured young men to join. Unlike today woman, during that time, were not allowed to join the army. The fact that a woman wrote this poem was also very significant, because men felt that they couldn’t refuse a woman and that their pride and honour was very important.

Whereas Wilfred Owen was a soldier and had joined the army, been injured, but still came back. Sadly Owen, who was against the war, died in action one week before the end of the war. The tone in the poem reflects the poets different attitudes. Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ tone sounds betrayed, angry and upset. One line that reflects the betrayal is ‘The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’. This line is also the title and the betrayal he feels towards the propaganda is clear, because his discusses the negatives of war throughout his poem and does not mention anything positive about the war.

On the other hand Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is more excited and upbeat and she uses words like ‘Come along, lads’ to suggest it’s a game and that all are welcome to play. I think both poems had alot of poetic techniques both use rhyme. Pope uses words that rhyme like ‘tight’ and ‘fight’, and Owen used word like ‘sludge’ and ‘trudge’ . I think both poets used rhyme (a sound device) so that the poem could be appreciated when read aloud. Especially words like ‘sludge’ and ‘trudge’ really exaggerate the soldiers movement and how hard it was for them to walk.

Pope also uses a extended metaphor comparing war to a game throughout the poem. This comparison is very effective because she tempts the reader by saying have fun and join us or watch and be part of the audience, which is made apparent when she writes ‘who wants a turn to himself in the show, and who wants a seat in the stand. She also uses repetition with the word ‘who’ll’ on the beginning of several lines and also uses collective personal pronouns like ‘you’ll, your and you’ as if she is speaking directly to the reader. On the other hand Owen uses the same technique (repetition) but for a different purpose.

This can be seen when he writes ‘I saw him drowning… He plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning’. He repeats these words to emphasize the shock and harshness that someone is dying and he can’t do anything about it, and the soldiers death is still haunting him after all this time. Likewise he repeats the words face ‘white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face’ to really emphasize what he is seeing. Owen also uses personification, metaphors and similes in his poem. For instance ‘haunting flares’, ‘drunk with fatigue’ and ‘like hags’ to paint a picture of what the soldiers and their surroundings look like.

This is effective because the reader can empathise with the soldiers just from the description. Pope also uses personification by comparing the country to a woman she writes, ‘Your country is up to her neck in a fight’. This use of personification is effective because men feel they need to protect woman and so they feel responsible for their country. Both poets use poetic techniques such as: personification; repetition and rhyme to express their different views and attitudes towards war. So whilst they may have used the same techniques they used it for different purpose.

I think that their attitudes towards war are very different. Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is what he thought and had personally experienced, while Jesse Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ was propaganda poem encouraging young men that the war was a game. Even though I don’t agree with Pope’s approach, I think it’s very effective and shows how her attitude towards war is very patriotic. I think Pope’s poem is very effective and I can understand why so many men felt they needed to join the army. They have different views and attitudes to war and express their personal views through their poems.

Dulce Et Decorum Est Narrative Essay

In the two poems “Dulce et Decorum Est,” by Wilfred Owen and “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” by Randall Jarrell, a common theme is expressed among the two. The expendability of life in warfare is that theme. Both poems express this theme in the same way and make readers realize the worth of life to our armed forces. In “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” this theme is shown through the eye of a man that had to experience death in a way that no other person would understand. The writer of the poem, Randall Jarrell recollects his time spend in the air force and his duties.

Of which he had to clean out the ball turret of aircraft when they were soiled. This task is what Randall speaks of during his poem. The theme of expendability of life in warfare, can be placed on this task since what Randall was really doing was washing the turret of the human remains with a hose. This action was not something that only happened once; this was his duty, an action that was performed regularly. The cleaning and repair of the turret just meant that another body could be placed in the turret with no emotion or hesitation.

In “Dulce et Decorum Est” the theme is also shown through the eyes of a man that had to experience death on a daily basis. The writer of the poem, Wilfred Owen describes an event that occurred during service. Wilfred’s description of is that of a fellow brother drowning in gas clouds and the action or lack of taken after his death. The theme that the two poems have in common comes into play when Wilfred recalls the event of other men throwing their brother’s body into a wagon and continuing forward like nothing had happened.

This action too shows the worth of ones life in the armed forces and that a life can easily be replaced. The two poems, “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” are two works that demonstrate how fragile life is and that to some life can simply be replaced. The theme of the expendability of life in warfare can be placed on both of the poems since in both life is lost and replaced without reluctance. Even though the two poems were written in two different time periods they both convey the same theme, and do that so in a way that is some what understated but very direct in showing the expendability of life.

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