How_Owen_Portrays_the_Reality_of_War_in_Two_of_His_Poems.

Literature Explore how Owen portrays the reality of war in two of his poems. Owen expresses his views of war in these two poems, Exposure and Dulce et Decorum Est. Both poems portray the reality of war in trench warfare. In Exposure, Owen described how “nothing happens” in trench warfare during the winter. In Dulce et Decorum Est, he illustrates the agony of being a trench soldier. In these poems, Owen gives us a vivid picture of the reality of war in trenches. Both poems start with a strong imagery. In “Dulce et Decorum Est”, similes are used to show the condition of the soldiers. The soldiers are “like old beggars under sacks” and “coughing like hags”. The alliteration emphasizes the coughing sound. Sound imagery is also used to describe the soldier where they are “cursed through sludge” and could not even hear the “hoots”. Conversely, in “Exposure”, no metaphors or similes are used. Instead, Owen used the assonances and consonances to express the long “iced east winds”. The sharp assonance “i” sound reinforce the “winds that knive” the soldiers. The soft and long consonance “w” and “s” suggests that the winter is long and the soldiers are “wearied”. Ellipses are used to reemphasize the never-ending wind and winter. In “Exposure”, used only one simile to illustrate how boring it was to hear gun fire that is “like a dull rumor of some other war”. On the other hand, Owen used more metaphors in “Dulce et Decorum Est”. He told us how the soldiers we are so “fatigue” that the walk like drunks. The soldier were also “drowning” in gas and “floundering like a man in fire or lime”. He also showed us how war was “obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud” and also describing the death and agonies of soldier at the same time. However in “Exposure”, Owen used personifications to portray the sufferings of being a soldier in the winter. He told us how dawn was miserable and massing to the soldiers. Repetition of “But nothing happens” in the line of 4 stanzas highlights how tedious the reality of war in winter is. Owen also suggested how the soldier are “sun-dozed” where in this poem it is an illusion and hallucination of the soldiers, after being in such long winters and their desire for the heat and sun. The structures of these two poems are different. In “Dulce et Decorum Est”, there eight lines in the first two stanzas and twelve lines in the last stanza. In contrast, Owen used 5 lines for every stanza in the “Exposure” and it gives reader the feeling that “nothing happens” and always the same. In “Exposure”, the length of the lines is consistent. In the same way, the length of lines in “Dulce et Decorum Est” is also consistent but it also follows the iambic pentameter. The iambic pentameter, the heartbeat-like effect, is suppose to give the marching sound of soldier in war poems, but in “Dulce et Decorum Est” the heartbeat-like sound represented the lame soldiers limping slowly but orderly. The title “Dulce et Decorum Est”, which means it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country, itself is an irony as the poems only shows who horrific war is and nothing about the good side of war. Sense of touch, sound and sight were used more often in “Dulce et Decorum Est” than in “Exposure” which give a clear image of the reality of war. In contrast, Owen seemed to have illustrate plenty about trench warfare in winter in “Exposure” but in the end “nothing happens” again. In the entire poem, the message he may want to convey to us is that, war in winter is prolonged and dull. These two poems have portrayed the dreadful reality of war but in different aspects.