Owen then uses a lot of onomatopoeic words to explain what’s happening. He uses words like “plunges” or “guttering”. These words also make a guttural sound. “choking” and “drowning” are uses of sea imagery. The reason this is used is because it fits the situation, it’s the same as people drowning, and their lungs fill with water only in this situation the man's lungs are filling with poison. The poet explains how they “flung” the man's body into the back of a wagon. It’s a very brutal way of putting things but it realistically shows the brutality of war. The man's eyes are rolling back into his head... "watch the white eyes writhing in his face”... death or unconsciousness soon follows for the man. The alliteration on the three “w’s” really emphasise the pain this man is in. the whole scene is horrible, Owen explains the horror by comparing the situation, maybe even war itself, to a “devil sick of sin” It’s the worst situation possible. Owen then directly speaks to the reader as “friends” and explains if you had witnessed the thing that he’s has then you wouldn’t tell people the old lie, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” which means it is a sweet and seemly thing to die for your country. The long sentence is for the revelation of the lie.
This is a very strongly worded poem that is full of feeling and meaning and left the readers no doubt that Owen is in fact very anti-war. Owen puts things very brutal and doesn’t spare the readers feelings when he’s trying to get his opinions on war across. The story within this poem tells of the reality of war and that war is full of dirt and death and horror. It comes to life through the language techniques and through the different sounds presented. Owens biggest message through all of his poems is the futility of war and that men should be able to make agreements through words not actions unlike Shakespeare who does believe that war is necessary when it’s defending your country and monarch. “Who’s For The Game?” was written by Jessie Pope, a female poet who wrote this poem from home. Pope is a pro-war poet, so naturally this is a propaganda poem written with a conversational tone. It’s designed to make men feel guilty and join up as she challenges them when she asks “Who’s For The Game?” It’s got a lifting rhythm and playful mood matches the tone. It also has the regular “A B A B” rhyme scheme. Pope makes the whole concept of war out to be the “biggest game that’s played” and by doing so because men are enthusiastic about their games and she wants them to be the same about war. It does make the young men think ‘I am interested in the games that I am a part of and should be interested in fighting for my country’ so she is getting them to consider joining up. “The red crashing game of a fight.” Has the appropriate use of “red” like blood because there is a lot of blood throughout war. The onomatopoeic “crashing” also symbolising the crashing of the soldiers as they crash against one another. “Who’ll grip…unafraid” the verbs used here are usually applied when talking about games but are also applicable to war. The “unafraid” appeals to the men’s sense of bravery just like in “Macbeth” in the final battle between Macduff and Macbeth, Macduff call Macbeth a “coward” which causes Macbeth to rebuke him. A slight truth then comes in to the poem. Pope writes “who would much rather come back with a crutch than lie low and be out of the fun?” this is ironic because war isn’t fun but she does want enthusiasm. The alliteration on “lie low” is to emphasise that it is the cowardice thing to do. Also by saying “your country” and that its “calling for you” makes the men feel guilty as in its their responsibility to look after it. It also emphasises how needed they are. Before finishing very directly she personifies the country which creates a greater sense of loyalty towards it. Pope presents war with a light heated rhythm to it. She presents it as a positive and noble thing to do, fight for your country. This is similar to Shakespeare’s attitude but almost opposite to that of Owen. The extended metaphor of war being a game shows how she believed that war was simple and easy to win without looking at the real consequences as most men didn’t come home with a crutch, they came home in a coffin or their body was unrecoverable so they didn’t come home at all. War is presented in positive ways and negatives and each writer likes to have their own opinion on it. War is brutal and vicious and dirty and full of blood and death and horror. The most convincing piece that portrays all of these things about war is “Dulce Et Decorum Est” Owen convincingly preaches the futility of war through this poem and what actually happened in it as he did experience it. Owen has the correct idea to war and that is that war is unnecessary and that men should be able to make agreements through words and not actions.
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