World War One was an era of horror, hate, and violence this lead to many tragic events. Since WWI many have argued that World War One is the most tragic event in history. Sassoon and Owen, two famous poets, presented the tragedy by portraying the horror and violence.
In Dulce Et Decorum Est the tragedy is presented by showing the horror and conditions around them. “His hanging face, like a devil; sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,”(Sassoon, 2008, 11). This describing the face of an enemy soldier and the deep description “froth-corrupted lungs” setting a horror tone, furthermore, when mentioning “His hanging face” as it paints a gruesome picture in the reader’s mind. “Devil” is used to portray the enemy soldier as evil since the word “devil” is related to “hell” which is known to humans as being the place afterlife. When mentioning “like a devil” it’s comparing the soldier to the devil giving the impression that he was an evil person and deserved death. An end-stopped line is used to show the completion of the stanza, thus allowing the information to settle in the reader’s mind. Some readers may interpret the meaning differently such as when “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod.” making you feel sympathy for those soldiers. In the era of World War One in order to be “manly,” you had to go to war or else you were perceived as weak, fearful, and treated like nothing even by your own family.
In Suicide of the Trenches, horror is presented by the boy killing himself. “In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again.”(Owen, 2008, 11) With the overwhelming cold weather and no rum to keep warm due to poor conditions, the young boy had decided to put a bullet through his own head. The word “bullet” is used to portray the boy killing himself, violence and set the tone of which being horror, freaking the reader out. Imagery is used when “ In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum”(Owen, 2008, 11) by creating short sentences that are descriptive to paint a picture in the reader’s mind, the more descriptive the more horrific it is. A caesura is used when saying “He put a bullet through his brain.” as it makes the reader stops, creates a more dramatic tone of horror, and allows what the reader read to sink in. When mentioning “I knew a simple soldier boy who grinned at life in empty joy,”(Owen, 2008, 11) it shows the soldier is young when saying “boy” and explains he had never-ending happiness within himself allowing the reader to interpret the tone in a more happy manner. During World War One that is when masculinity was all about being tough, strong, brave, and this boy had put his life on the line but had killed himself. This made his family interpret that their child was weak and a failure.
Throughout the text, Sassoon and Owen use the direct address to force the reader into a more dramatic horror theme. “Behind the wagon that we flung him in,” uses direct address when saying “we” and incorporates that with a violent scene explaining them dragging him behind a wagon and flinging them. This forces the reader into a scary scene and can make them feel uneasy. This elsewhere is also in the same stanza when mentioning “If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,” using direct address “If you” and explaining in great detail the blood gurgling in his throat, creating a horror tone possibly making the reader feel scared or left frightened. There are many different uses of language features throughout the poem some being using are similies such as when “Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, explaining the conditions of a soldier who has been killed. When the author writes in great detail this not only engages the reader further but dramatizes the violence creating a strong horror theme in the result.
In conclusion, it is clear that Sassoon and Owen presented the tragedy of World War One by portraying the horror and violence. By using violent tones and deep descriptions this paints a picture in the reader’s head that is gruesome leaving them frightened. Throughout the poems it proves that World War One may be the most tragic event in history by portraying the horrible conditions.
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