Assignment: ‘My Subject is War and the Pity of War’. How does Owen show the horror as well as the pity of war in his poems?The poems written by Wilfred Owen are about the horrors, the ugliness, the suffering and the countless tragedies that war has brought. The anti-war them and serious tone used in his poems is extremely effective at portraying ear as horrid and devastating. The detailed descriptions of blood, guts and death are overpowering.In the poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen stresses how war should not be glorified or glamorised. The title meaning ‘It is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country’ is used satirically because the poem describes the horror and agony that the soldiers endured during their time in the trenches. The title is used in contrast with the first line. It is a shocking description of once young and healthy boys.‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knocked-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge.’This line shows the reader that the men are so tired and worn out by the war that they can be compared to ‘old beggars’. The emotion that illuminates from these statements is powerful and intense. It is now clear that one, who has survived through the war, could not possibly glorify it in any way.‘His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin’This is another great use of simile. It suggests that the soldier’s face was probably covered in blood, which is the colour symbolising the devil. Owen vividly describes the hell the soldiers endured, desperately trying to stay alive. Exhausted, injured and ‘Drunk with fatigue’. The word ‘Blood-shod’ explains how the men had been on their feet for days without rest. Their feet were so damaged that they no longer had the protective covering of their boots but their feet were covered in blood. Also words like ‘guttering’, ‘cho...
