Dulce Et Decorum Est 'And Epitaph On A Soldier'

The Brutal Reality vs the Virtue Gained

The poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen gives insight into how a soldier is beaten to the state of exhaustion in war which defeats the perception of how society has seen war as lighthearted for generations. The poem “Epitaph on a Soldier” by Cyril Tourneur depicts a soldier at a time of death, defeating the common thought of how death is seen as a negative thing and portrays the soldier as he is ready to die, welcoming his death. The critical and bitter tone in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” conveys the brutality of war to emphasize the disillusioned way society perceives war; whereas, the admiring and comforting tone in “Epitaph on a Soldier” conveys the contentment of an honorable death. The informal

In “Dulce Et Decorum Est” there is a shift in pace where Owen exemplifies the immediate calling of “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys” conveying the tone of how the war is chaotic to support the overall meaning of how war is not what people believe it is (9). As the stanzas change, they each accentuate the idea of how the war takes a toll on the soldier, and in the last stanza focuses on how people believe the old lie of how dying for a country is glorious. “Epitaph on a Soldier” is written in iambic pentameter with a more rhythmic nature to impose a more positive impression on the reader. The use of rhyming couplets creates a more pleasing effect, which emphasizes the last word in each line for the overall meaning of contentedness of the soldier’s death. The sentences are short and straightforward but carry a larger meaning behind each one to reveal the depth of the

In “Dulce Et Decorum Est” Owen uses gruesome imagery like “gargling” to expand the bitter tone and to depict the image that soldiers are suffering in efforts to criticize those who think war is all fun and games (22). In contrast, in “Epitaph on a Soldier” Tourneur uses abstract imagery like “died in peace” to evoke emotion instead of gory details to reassure the reader that the soldier is content with dying because he has obtained a lot of knowledge throughout the war (10). Illustrating the image of “froth-corrupted lungs” in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” serves to makes the reader feel uncomfortable (22). Owen does this on purpose to stimulate some sort of reaction in order to indicate a more critical tone to prove his stance on war and how it is not a cheerful environment.. Depicting the image of “strength of youth” in “Epitaph on a Soldier” serves to show how since the soldier was young in age, he should have been stronger and more likely to live because of his physicality (3). Tourneur does this to point out how war can take any life at any time and that one is never safe from war. Even though the author paints such a depressing image, he does this in order to support the comforting tone by reassuring in the next line that the soldier “welcomed” death and was ready to die