First World War Poets Essay -- World War One Poets Poetry Poems Essays

First World War Poets The First World War poets were able to affect the emotions of their readers. Choose two or more poems that have affected you in some way, and analyse how the poets have achieved this affect. The subject of war is a delicate one to write about. However, Wilfred Owen expertly describes the horrors of conflict to his readers in a way few are able to. He conveys images and uses language in ways that can move the reader. In this essay I will look at two of his poems, written during and after the war, and aim to discuss the methods Owen uses in order to successfully influence the readers’ emotions. After reading each of the poems, I felt I was able to recognize more fully the suffering that the men on the front line endured. Although the full extent of the terror of the trenches should never be seen again, Owen’s writing gives a good idea of what war was like 90 years ago. The poems moved me and sadden me, and also opened my eyes to the horror of war. The poems I will be studying are ‘Spring Offensive’ and ‘Futility’; they differ from each other in a variety of ways but each communicates a feeling of compassion for those who died in 1918. While one will use perhaps horrific detail, another will use a milder and gentler method. In answer to the essay title, I will show which techniques Owen uses in each poem and how they move the reader. The first poem I will look at is ‘Spring Offensive’. We can see from the title that Owen may talk about conflict as ‘offensive’ suggests. The opening line is one of sadness and imminent death, ‘Halted against the shade of a last hill’. The use of ‘last’ implies that the men are nearing the end of their lives and that the hill is that last one th... ...suddenly they are ‘exposed’ to the ‘unseen bullets’ of the enemy machine guns. This also makes the soldiers appear very brave, as they show little fear. To conclude, I would say that ‘Spring Offensive’ is an exceptional piece of writing that moved me greatly. I felt real sympathy and sadness for the men that lost their lives for their country after the officers threw them into the front line. This feeling is strengthened through ‘Futility’, which makes the pointlessness of the War even more apparent. Owen uses rhythm and style to paint the terrible pictures of war in order to rouse the reader into thinking about his ideas. His use of rhetorical devices further reinforces his views on war and its senselessness. Finally, his questioning of God and his way of making nature appear all-powerful adds an effective twist to the overall view of his writing.