Choose two poems at least that explore the theme of conflict , contrasting ways. Explore content and style , making comparisons and contrasts between the poems.
...ey are present in the actions. By using ‘command form’ Wilferd draws the readers into the poem and ter to see the reality of war, to visualise the actions. Rupert also uses command form to draw the reader into his mind and to let the reader feel what he’s feeling and so showing what he feels war is. Similes also help the readers to visualise what the poet is presenting: ”Bitter as cud”, “coughing like hags”. The readers can compare their experience of, for example, cud and hags to enhance the total effect of the words. They can now not only see the words but also hear and taste them. This brings me to the mood of the poems. The mood in ‘the soldier’ is peaceful and relaxing. ‘The soldier’ has a more personal purpose and in his poem he’s telling the readers how he wants to be remembered: ”think only this of me”. The poem also shows how proud he is of his country. I can see this because he repeats ‘England’ and ‘English’ a lot. This shows he is really patriotic. This makes the reader feel for the poet. Wilferd Owen also repeats words but he does it to strike the readers and to make his words echo in their minds: ”Gas! Gas!” Rupert keeps on talking about the memories of England: ”A body of England’s breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.” This shows he loves his home country and that he misses it. The poem is a poem that pleases, flatters, charms, soothes. But it is more like a ‘living lie’, you want it to be like this but you know it isn’t. Rupert had an enthusiasm that most soldiers and poems eventually lost. The mood in ‘Dulce et Decorum est‘ is very different. It is angry and full of rage. He presents this by using cacophony, alliteration and similes. He presents the war as a nightmare: “some smothering dreams”. By saying “innocent tongues” he indicates that the young soldiers did not really know what really went on. The poem is full of helplessness and sorrow to show the true realities of the war. The soldier also presents a dream. A peaceful, eternal dream after the war, death, but Rupert doesn’t bring it across as being unpleasant, but peaceful. It is a sonnet as it has 14 lines and has a clear rhyming scheme. This adds to the completeness of the poem. In both poems every other word rhymes. For ‘Dulce et Decorum est‘ these words are :”sacks”, “sludge”, “backs”, “trudge”, ‘boots”, “blind”, “hoots”, “behind”, “fumbling”, “time”, ‘stumbling”, lime”, “light”, “drowning”, “sight”, “drowning”, “pace”, “in”, “face”, “sin”, “blood”, “lungs”, “tongues”, “zest” , ”glory”, “est”, “mori”. The last words of every line put together forms a summery of the poem and it summarises the terror, horror and helplessness that this war brought upon the soldiers. For ‘the Soldier’ these words are: ”me”, “field”, “be”, “concealed”, “aware”, “roam”, “air”, “home”. It then changes a little to give a different rhyming scheme: ”away”, “less”, “given”, “day”, “gentleness”, “heaven”. This also creates a summary of the poem as it shows patriotism, courage, commitment and love. These two summaries of these two poems help to p...