Evaluation of Owens poetry

Owen brings across many other feelings in Dulce et Decorum est. The title of the piece itself is taken from a Roman poem composed by Horace, who was very patriotic, which contrasts with Owen’s negative views towards the war. Within then first few lines of the poem Owen includes several examples of stylish alliteration (“Bent double, like old beggars…Knock-kneed”) to further enhance the grotesque imagery that he incorporates within the poem itself. Alliteration is

Also within the first verse of Dulce is an emotive graphic description with elongated vowel sounds (“sludge…trudge”) to accentuate the tortuously slow nature of their progress across the battlefield. The complex, varied sentences within the poem are immediately followed by short sharp sentences to add variety to the tempo and so the reader understands the randomness and complexity that Owen felt about the war. Dulce et Decorum est is full of poignant visual objects that Owen describes very strikingly. These visual aids help the reader look at the poem in a far more intimate, compassionate way. The “thick green light”, the “white eyes”, and the “haunting flares”, are just some of the key words that Owen uses to enable him to create these powerful images and allow the reader to experience a lot more of what Owen was feeling at the time. Conflictingly, Anthem for Doomed Youth is much less of a visual poem and this is all to do with Owen’s subtle use of loud words, full of noise and bulk such as “monstrous anger” or “stuttering rifles rapid rattle.” Although this creates less imagery in the poem, we can still visualise the scenes captured in the poem by imagining the sounds Owen describes at great length (“The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells…and bugles calling them from sad shires”).

The religious influence is carried on throughout the poem, albeit it is changed to a darker, more funereal one. This was particularly shown in the artwork at the time with many artists illustrating the tragedies of the First World War. In particular the art of Eric Kennington and Paul Nash employed many dark colours and tones, which heavily represented the feelings that Owen possessed. This funereal feeling is then shown in the mournful alliteration that Owen employs in Anthem for Doomed Youth.

Owen developed many of his poetic techniques at Craiglockhart Military Hospital, where he spent five months out of a total war service of 23 months as a wounded soldier. It was through the inspiration of fellow soldier and poet, Siegrfried Sas

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