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How
is War Presented in the Poetry of Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke?
While Brooke and Owen’s poetry are both
largely similar in structure and language, their works contrast hugely in tone.
Brooke had an idealistic and glorified view of war, whereas Owen was blatantly
disgusted by the violence of war and cynical about its purpose.
Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen were both poets before they were
soldiers, therefore their poem’s structure and language are both classic to the
medium and there is not much difference between them. Both Brooke’s The Dead and Owen’s Anthem For Doomed Youth are Italian Sonnets. In part this is for
the same reason; both poets want to show their respect and admiration for the
dead soldiers, and as Italian Sonnets are typically love poems this structure
is appropriate. However, while Brooke’s Sonnet structure compliments his
semantic field of Riches/Royalty, Owen’s Sonnet structure contrasts the angry
tone of the poem.
Owen and Brooke
have contrasting contexts in which their poems were written. Brooke died before
he ever saw battle so his poems were written in a pre-war naivety. In Peace
Brooke described the war as making the men “as swimmers into cleanness
leaping”, which is to say he believed it would cleanse them. The idea of a
cleansing war contrasts perversely with Owen’s descriptions of “cursed through
sludge” in Dulce Et Decorum Est, and
“rain soaks and clouds sag stormy” in Exposure.
When the poets are describing the war (e.g. recounting the day to day
experience) it can be assumed that Owen provides more reliable account. However
when the poems explore subjective issues (such as the purpose of the war) there
is ambiguity in which of them is more reliable. It could be argued that Owen is
more reliable because he experienced it, or it could be argued that only Brooke
could have level-headedly address these issues because his opinion had not been
tainted by the horrors experienced in battle. Therefore, when addressing
abstract themes, both poets can be approached as equals.
Both Brooke and Owen explore the theme of
religion often in their poems, however the references made by each poet
contrasts hugely. Brooke stands staunchly behind religious fundamentalism and
all of his poems retain an absolute faith that God is just and on their side.
Brooke even suggests that the war is a gift from god in the first lines of Peace, saying “God be thanked Who has
matched us with His hour,”. The capitalisation of Who and His as well as God are
indications of his devotion. Owen’s references to religion are also frequent
but are much less devout. Owen’s religious references are not limited to the
divine as he describes a dying soldiers face as “like a devil’s sick of sin” in
Dulce Et Decorum Est. This likening of the war to hell
contrasts hugely with Brooke’s idea of war as a heaven sent blessing. In Exposure Owen says “For love of God
seems dying”; so in total contrast to Brooke it suggests that faith is
lessening, if not lost, because of the war. While Brooke believes the war is
happening thanks to God, Owen juxtaposes this by suggesting that the war is
happening despite God, or even without God.
Patriotism is
another theme on which Brooke and Owen obviously differ in opinion, but a
subject which they both approach in their poetry. Brooke suggested that dying
for one’s country is a noble cause in The
Soldier as he states that if he dies in battle there will be “some corner
of a foreign field that is for ever England”. He’s extremely idealistic about
England (specifically England, not Britain) and goes so far as to imply that
England is a superior nation when he says that the ground on which he dies will
have “a richer dust concealed”. However the entirety of Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est is an attempt to
destroy Brooke’s brand of patriotic idealism.
In this poem Owen uses unappealing sensory language such as “guttering”,
“gargling”, “bitter”, and uses a semantic field of Poverty and Vulnerability in
his first stanza; both of these techniques effectively communicate the
perpetual horror that the soldiers are experiencing. This is all used as
evidence to back his conclusion: that Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori is
nothing but an “old lie”. So in contrast to Brooke’s belief that dying for
England would enrich the soils of lesser nations, Owen is insistent that dying
for your country is not noble, but ugly, terrifying, and usually futile.
Due to Brooke’s
passion for patriotism he naturally condemned the German opposition as the
enemy in the conflict. Owen, however, never suggests that the soldiers on the
other side of no man’s land were any more morally corrupt than himself. Owen
expresses that it is the endless stream of soldiers sent to die in battle to
seemingly no end is the true evil of the war. In Exposure Owen describes the soldiers slowly dying in horrific
conditions “But nothing happens.” The final line of the third, fourth, and
eighth stanzas expresses the pointlessness of it all; the war stagnates, there
is no progress, but still millions die.
Owen and Brooke both use personification but
to different causes. In The Dead, Brooke
personifies England. This could be perceived as an extension of his devotion to
religion as he describes England as an omnipotent creator, saying “A dust whom
England bore, shaped, made aware”. Here, personification has the effect of
soothing the reader as Brooke expresses faith in two all-powerful presences
that could protect the soldiers. Owen also uses personification in Exposure. Owen surreally personifies God’s
love as the sun that does not “smile true on child, or field, or fruit” and
describes that as they exposed soldiers die, God’s love dies with them. Here,
personification has the opposite effect as it creates a hopeless tone in the
poem. Both Owen and Brooke use a personification in
relation to a God, but while Brooke uses personification to create a God, Owen
uses it to confront a God with mortality. Therefore once again Brooke and Owen
contrast_entirely.
Owen and Brooke’s poetry are polar opposites in the way that they present the war, however the techniques they use to create these presentations are similar.
