Brooke & Owen
Poems are an ancient art, probably humans' first literary form. They have contained many subjects, covering a broad spectrum from love to war. Since poems can quickly display raw emotion and vivid imagery, the form has become a popular choice for writers wishing to display their perspectives of war. Two poems of this subject are, Wilfred Owen's, 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and Rupert Brooke's, 'The Soldier.' While these poems both speak of war and patriotism, their views are vastly different. Rupert Brooke, was a soldier and a poet. He was a British soldier who fought in World War I, where he was killed early in the war in 1915. His poem, 'The Soldier' speaks about if he dies. Brooke talks about a grave in a place away from England (most likely France) where the fighting of The Great War took place. That is where he will be buried, and it will be forever a shrine of England. He says, "In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; a dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware." That 'richer dust' is him, his body lying "concealed" in coffin in "that rich earth." He also talks about the pieces of England that are in him like, "English air, washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home." The line, "and think, this heart, all evi
l shed away" talks about how the influxes of things like "English air" and "her flowers to love" made his heart pure and him a patriot. The last five lines deal with the memories of home, the things and ideals he is fighting to protect. In this poem, Brooke views war as a chance to do something for his country. His death will allow the chance for a piece of England to be permanently be left behind, to make the land a better place. His attitude is not that losing his life will be a waste, it is the opposite. The view of the poem is that he is there to die for his country if that is what is needed, and that if he does it will make "some corner of a foreign field" a better place. Wilfred Owen, was also a soldier and a poet. He was an officer in the British Army during World War I, which he entered in 1915. He was wounded at least once during the war and was killed one week before the Armistice in 1918. His poem, 'Dulce et Decorum Est' views war as a horrid thing, and a waste. The title of the poem refers to Horace's famous line, "Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country." The poem talks of soldiers leaving the front for a long overdue rest. They are marching home "asle
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Approximate Word count = 804
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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