A Comparison of Dulce et Decorum Est and The Soldier

The poems Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, and The Soldier by

Rupert Brooke have both taken the subject of war, specifically, World War 1, and

offered such contrasting opinions of the subject, that at times it is almost

impossible to discern that both poems share the same topic, and that is also

where all similarities between both poems cease to exist.

Perhaps it is due to the 3 year difference between the poems that resulted

in their vast differences in terms of theme and subject matter. Written in 1914,

when World War 1 was just on the brink of materializing, Rupert Brooke lacked

the actual knowledge and experience of war when he had written The Soldier.

This resulted in an idyllic, picture-perfect portrait of war that was at that time

though a common image in the minds of young men intent on enlisting, it was

far from the truth. Brooke wrote of a soldier's somewhat idealistic view of war of

how people should not mourn for the dead of a war but instead be proud that

they have done their country proud, emphasizing that it was an honor to die for

one’s country. Dulce et Decorum Est on the other hand, was written in 1917, a

year before the end of the war itself. Unlike Brooke, Wilfred Owen had

considerable firsthand experiences of war, and thus was able to give a fairer

picture of war than Brooke. His poem crammed the gruesome horrors of war,

particularly gas warfare, down the readers’ throat from the very beginning., and

preached that its title in itself was a lie. His poem was no sugar-coated, elegant,

deluded portrait of war that Brooke’s was, but instead a violent, vivid, real

picture of what war truly was.

Because of the difference between subject matter and theme of the

poems, the difference in tone goes unnoticed by the reader. With its images of

rich earth, laughter, gentleness, and hearts at peace after combat death, Brooke
gave the poem an extremely positive, uplifting tone in order to further reinforce

the theme of patriotism. Owen, on the other hand, with his grim and grisly

description of what combat death truly encompasses provides a far different

mood. His tone is of depression, lack of hope and of course sadness which allows

him to accomplish his message quickly and effectively.

In The Soldier, the main literary device used was personification. As seen,

“England bore, shaped, made aware”. This use of personification allowed readers

to view England as a living, breathing maternal figure in the poem, which

assisted in provoking emotions within the readers. In Dulce et Decorum Est,

there is a larger variety of devices used such as alliteration, “Knock-kneed”,

similes, such as “like old beggars under sacks”, and the frequent use of

exclamation marks, “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” These devices add a sense of

urgency to the poem. However the main device used in the poem was imagery

because of Owen’s intent to horrify those oblivious to these incidents of war, and

shake them awake from the dreams of a heavenly war.

To conclude, these two seemingly similar poems, though alike in topic,

differ greatly in terms of everything else. However, that does not mean that we

can consider either as worse than the other, or less true. Instead, both should be

viewed as works of art meant to be read, cherished and understood.