Poetry Analysis Stage 1 English Poetry arouses great emotions in people. How have four poems “aroused emotions” in you? What have you learnt about war and the emotions associated with it? War is a part of our world and has been since the beginning of time. Through war, men have been given the opportunity to fight for freedom, for their country and for their beliefs. Young men have marched into an abyss, some never to return again. They have faced death on a daily basis and the way in which some of these soldiers have responded is through verse.

The four poems entitled “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen, “Conscript” by FA Horn and “The Photograph” by Peter Kocan have aroused different emotions in their reader including melancholy, isolation, anguish, sympathy, trepidation and disgust. This is achieved through poetic techniques such as repetition, similes, metaphors, the theme of war and the storyline itself. “Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem by Wilfred Owen who was a soldier in the First World War. Through this poem, Owen expresses both the physical and psychological terror that war brings about and describes sympathy for the lives sacrificed.

The poem retells the horror Owen witnessed, in particular, the gruesome death of a fellow soldier, “I[he] saw him drowning. In all my[his] dreams, before my[his] helpless sight, He plunges[d] at me[him], guttering, choking, drowning. ” Owen’s voice is heard throughout the poem with the intent to arouse emotion in the reader and help them realise “The old lie: Dulce et Decorum Est”, meaning, there is nothing sweet or right about dying for your country. Owen uses different poetic techniques including metaphors in the first stanza which convey warning.

He describes the men “fitting the clumsy helmets” as “an ecstasy of fumbling” and that many of them had great difficulty in putting their helmets on before being gassed. The prominent themes which are evident throughout the poem are war and death and these are portrayed through both similes and imagery. The emotions that are aroused in the reader are melancholy, trepidation, anguish and disgust. He especially achieves anguish when he portrays the horrific circumstances faced by all soldiers during the war, “someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime. ” War poetry enables soldiers to arouse emotions in readers from experience. “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen portrays the isolation of a wounded soldier and the way in which he is treated when he returns home from war. Owen focuses on the negativity surrounding war and the dramatic demise it can have on a soldier, long after the war is won. The poem is written in past tense which allows the poet to illustrate the popularity of the soldier before his battle scars, “And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim, In the old times, before he threw away his knees. ” Owen uses different poetic techniques including similes to enable the reader to feel different emotions and connect with the poem. The poet uses similes to describe how the “voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn. ” The theme throughout the poem is loss and the tone is intense and depressing. Owen is successful in arousing different emotions in the reader including sympathy, melancholy and isolation, “He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark, And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,

Legless, sewn short at elbow. ” The sense of isolation conveyed in the first stanza is a direct comparison to the warmth of the second and throughout this stanza “glow-lamps” and “girls glanced” are linked successfully by the use of alliteration. Owen also successfully uses irony to portray how before he acquired his injuries from the war, he felt proud to have “a blood-smear down his leg, after the matches, carried shoulder high. ” “The Photograph” by Peter Kocan is a poem written by a soldier during World War I.

It illustrates the anonymous photos of soldiers, who have fought and died at war, and how they are slowly being forgotten, “And a not yet anonymous soldier Stares out of the photograph. ” The memories of these brave and courageous young men are being lost as people age and time continues on. The tone of the poem is considerate yet at the same time, sad and depressing. The poem is told from a sister and the intent is to evoke emotions in the reader which allows them to remember the importance of the sacrifices made by these men.

The theme most evident in the poem is death, ““My brother Jim. He went to war… ” And something in that aged voice conveys The unspoken “and didn’t come back. ”” The poet uses different poetic techniques including imagery which gives a vivid description of how soldiers are not being remembered but rather being forgotten “in a musty room somewhere. ” Some of the emotions which are aroused include the trepidation of becoming isolated. Kocan reminds the reader that memory is much a function of the body as it is one of the mind.

He also portrays the fate of the generation that experienced World War I as one of a slow destructive death. There have been many poets who have written of war, in an attempt to display the true horror of it and “Constrict” by FA Horn is a successful example. The poem portrays a young man, who is forced to serve for his country against his will, “He used to be, if you remember – always at books and that. ” The first stanza describes the benefits joining the military has given him, but it is made clear in the second stanza the irony of what is said and how quickly circumstances can change.

He uses similes to portray the negative affect war had on this soldier’s life and how his life was wasted “like bright oil down a gutter. ” Horn also uses a clever play on words when he conveys how the soldier was a “puny chap” but through war “he’s broadened out. ” The soldier broadened out not in terms of muscles or character but because he died in the field of combat and was laying there long enough for his body to swell. The theme which is prominent throughout the entire poem is that of death. The poet arouses different emotions in the reader which include anguish and disgust.

Winifred Owen, FA Horn and Peter Kocan are successful in the way in which they arouse emotions in the reader. “Disabled”, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, “Constrict” and “The Photography” are four poems, written by soldiers during the war which have the potential to make a person sympathise and admire all those who fight and have fought for freedom and their country. Through reading these poems, it was made clear the dismay of war and the different emotions associated with dealing with death and anguish on a daily basis.