Wilfred Owens Poetry and War Essay -- Wilfred Owen Poetry Poems War E

Wilfred Owen's Poetry and War Wilfred Owen is now seen as one of the most important of the many poets of the First World War. He was born the son of a railway worker in Shropshire, and educated at schools in Shrewsbury and Liverpool. His devoted mother encouraged his early interests in music and poetry. When he could not afford a university education, he went abroad to teach English in France. He was there when war broke out in 1914, and decided to return to England to volunteer for the army. After training, he became an officer and was sent to France at the end of 1916, seeing service first in the Somme sector. In spring 1917, he took part in the attacks on the German Hindenburg Line near St Quentin. When a huge shell burst near him, he was shell-shocked and sent back to England. The horrors of battle dramatically changed him from the youth of August 1914, who had felt 'the guns will effect a little useful weeding'. From his experiences, Owen was able to write very graphic and realistic poems, to show his reader the true atrocities of war. Three of his poems that show different aspects of war are; 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', 'Dulce et Decorum Est', and 'The Send-Off'. The poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', is a long comparison between the elaborate ceremonial of a Victorian-style funeral, and the way in which men go to their death on the western front. The poem is written in the form of a sonnet, and has a very traditional format. Owen wrote in this way mostly due to the influence of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose experience and high education helped him greatly during this period. The poem is made up of fourteen lines, and follows the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, effe, gg. The title of the poem ... ...st; the contrasting 'lie' of the phrase 'Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro patria mori', the contrast of elaborate Victorian funerals and the way in which men go to death, in Anthem for Doomed youth, and in The Send-off, the contrast of the phrase 'grimly-gay', to imply a sense of guilt and conspiracy to the poem. The three poems that I have studied, all show different aspects of war, and have many similarities and comparisons. However, they were all written with the same intention and opinion, by a soldier who had first-hand experience of the front line, and as such would not be duped by the media's portrayal of war as romantic and heroic. I think that the overall message Owen is trying to portray, is that the atrocity of war should be considered utterly senseless, brutal, and inhumane, and avoided at all costs, no matter what the situation happens to be.