To Lucasta And Dulce Et Decorum Est: Poem Analysis

War is a part of any society. It is an endeavor that helps keep societies safe from external aggression and even to help preserve freedoms. Countries go to war for different reasons. These reasons include preservation of boundaries, their ways of lives, or simply to resist conquest. This review will compare two poems covering the subject of war with all the implications of war to its participants. The paper will consider a comparison of two poems “To Lucasta”, and “Dulce et Decorum Est”.

To Lucasta

This is poem was written in the 17th century and it describes a moment where a soldier tells goodbye to his lover. The general theme of poem is the significance of honor. Honor those days could be gained by honoring ones call of duty of going to

However, it uses a different lens from the first one. Its main theme is about the propaganda that surrounds war. To give a true picture of this propaganda, the writer Wilfred Owens, gives a vivid description of the horrors of war in the battlefield. Having fought France during the First World War, Owens through his poem allows us to experience firsthand, what it is like, to be in the battle field. The poem contradicts the impression the title gives, since the readers expects an affirmation of how honorable and necessary war is. To the contrary the writer besmirches war (Spacey

At first, the tone is slow just describing the soldier’s plight. However, in the second stanza, it changes dramatically as he describes the soldiers’ frantic efforts to shield them from the poisonous gas. The poems are also similar in the fact that they address a common phenomenon that is war. They are also written by soldiers (Poetry Foundation 1).

Both make use of figurative language where the first poem, “To Lacusta”, the writer uses a metaphor to describe her lover. He talked of the nunnery of her breast, which is interpreted to mean the commitment and devotion of her lover to him. This is because a nunnery, which is a community of nuns, symbolizes deep devotion or commitment to something (Interesting Literature 2). In the second poem, the writer describes the dire situation of the soldiers in the first paragraph using similes. He, for instance, likens the soldiers in the first stanza to old beggars under sacks. He then continues to paint a picture of the coughing of the soldiers by comparing it to that of hags. The use of these figures of speech helps the readers to understand the problems the soldiers went through (PotW.org