Dulce et decorum est and anthom for doomed youth
... treated of less than human the great loss of so many young lives in for such a vile and low reason. “Anger of the guns” (line 2) gives us the idea that the men behind the guns were angry, not likely. Hatred was more common among civilians than the troops. Religious images dominate lines 9-14. Forget candle bearers says Owen. Theses have nothing to do with the real deal. Look in their eyes and in the ashen faces of their wives and their loved ones to learn the truth about war. Dusk is falling in the last line as it speaks of finality. The dusk is slow for that is how time passes for those who are mourning and with the drawing down of blinds and the sadness in the air we think of a house in Britain when at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, a telegram was delivered informing Owens parents of his death just a week earlier. Anthem for Doomed Youth is a poem about war, young men and a sad story of the closest thing from a trip to hell. Owens graphic description of the suffering and misery of the soldiers in Dulce et decorum est shocks the reader. At the beginning of the poem, Owen confronts us with the utter exhaustion of the soldiers. The simile ‘ like old beggars under sacks’ summons the difficulty of the soldiers’ movements through the sludge but it also shows the disgrace that war brings and the loss of life and hope in the soldiers. The soldiers have no glory. The simile ‘like hags’ closely following the previous one further arouses our pity for the men. We feel sorrow for the soldiers who are so exhausted that they ‘marched asleep’. We cannot help but feel sorry for the soldiers who ‘limped on, blood-shod’. The men are so ‘drunk with fatigue’ that they are unaware of the gas shells dropping softly behind them. The second stanza begins with a dramatic and sudden end to the soldier’s weariness. The sudden appearance of gas brings with it the fear of death. This fear is clearly seen in the ‘ecstasy of fumbling’ as the weary soldiers suddenly become alert as they struggle to save themselves from the horrifying loss of life by gas. Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time’ creates a sense of frenzied and distraught movement as the soldiers hasten to put on their gas masks. The poem then focuses on one unfortunate soldier who has no gas mask. Owen likens the gas to a green sea swallowing the soldier who seems to be ‘floundering’ as would a drowning swimmer. Owen emphasises the destructive points of the gas through his use of the simile ‘ like a man in fire or lime’. The harsh sounds of ‘ guttering’ and ‘ choking’ emphasises the anguish of the gassed soldier. In the final stanza of the poem Owen focuses on the horrifying effects if the gas on the soldier in the wagon. Owen’s words ‘And watch the white eyes writhing in his face bot...