I thought I would post another essay on Wilfred Owen’s poetry. This essay was written by a Year 11 student in exam conditions. The essay looks at language techniques.
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In the poem Dulce et decorum est the language techniques Wilfred Owen uses are important as they convey the main theme that war is a horrible reality.
Owen uses similes, such as “bent double like old beggars” this gives the impression in my mind that these young soldiers have been prematurely aged, and seemingly deformed by the harsh conditions of war. ‘Coughing like hags’, another simile develops the idea of these young men seeming old.
When Owen goes on to graphicly describe a soldiers death by gas attack he uses sharp words to create harsh images ‘guttering, choking, drowning’ Owen involves the audience,
‘If in some smothering dreams you too could pace’.
Owen uses vivid verbs so the audience can visualise the war scene ‘writhing, hanging, gargling.’
Owen uses a simile again ‘like a devil sick of sin’. This gives a strong image that I as the audience can visualise.
In the poem Anthem for doomed Youth Wilfred Owens language techniques are also important as they convey the main theme, but the main theme in Anthem for doomed youth is that war is a pointless and cruel waste of lives.
Owen uses a rhetorical question to begin the poem instantly involving the audience, ‘What passing bells for these who die as cattle? ‘Owen compares the death of young soldiers in battle to the slaughtering of beasts and cattle.
Owen uses personification ‘monstrous anger of the guns’, stuttering rifles’. This helps the audience really picture the scene in their minds. A metaphor is used to compare normal funeral services to the battle scenes of war ‘The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells’.
Again, a rhetorical question is used to begin the last stanza of the poem, the sestet.
‘What candles may be held to speed them all? This emphasises the fact that these young soldiers have no proper funeral service, as they are miles from home and there is no time for a proper burial.
Both poems convey a central theme that war is not ‘sweet and honourable’ but a horrific reality and a waste of lives.
The language techniques of both poems are used well, to help convey the themes, making them very important to the poems.