Comparing "Dulce et Decorum est" And "Disabled"
Comparing Dulce et Decorum est and Disabled
Dulce et Decorum est starts very slowly but picks up tempo in the middle, then it slows down again at the end of stanza four when it starts to return to its original speed. Disabled is very similar in many aspects because it starts and finishes slowly but unlike Dulce it keeps a steady tempo all the way through. Both of these styles were used by Owen to conjure up feelings of sympathy and regret.
Dulce et Decorum est opens with the strong description of 'coughing like hags'. The use of similes and metaphors really set the scene of tired, dishevelled soldiers trudging back home. The use of words like 'blood-shod' - in itself an unusual combination of words - puts the picture of men in shoes of blood vividly into the reader's mind.
Hyperbole is used to help stress a point. For example, 'all went lame' - this exaggeration helps give the feeling that it's not just these soldiers but it's the whole army which is feeling like this. The first stanza makes the reader feel deep sympathy and also it makes them doubt the reasons why the war is being fought.
Disabled starts just as shockingly with 'the young man sits in his ghastly suit of grey'. However, it is more straight forward and simple than Dulce, suggesting the simple needs and desires of the boy. The stanza still manages to bring the same emotions to the reader, especially when it talks about the other boys 'gathering sleep had mothered them from him'. Imagery like this is not used for the disabled boy but is used to describe the other children. This makes the reader feel that the young soldier is separated from the children. In this first stanza, he is 'waiting for the dark' which appears to be a metaphor for death and gives the reader the impression that this boy has been separated from society - so much so that all he has left to look forward to is death.
In comparison to these slow first stanzas, Dulce's second stanza starts with the sudden shout of 'Gas! Quick,
Dulce et Decorum est starts very slowly but picks up tempo in the middle, then it slows down again at the end of stanza four when it starts to return to its original speed. Disabled is very similar in many aspects because it starts and finishes slowly but unlike Dulce it keeps a steady tempo all the way through. Both of these styles were used by Owen to conjure up feelings of sympathy and regret.
Dulce et Decorum est opens with the strong description of 'coughing like hags'. The use of similes and metaphors really set the scene of tired, dishevelled soldiers trudging back home. The use of words like 'blood-shod' - in itself an unusual combination of words - puts the picture of men in shoes of blood vividly into the reader's mind.
Hyperbole is used to help stress a point. For example, 'all went lame' - this exaggeration helps give the feeling that it's not just these soldiers but it's the whole army which is feeling like this. The first stanza makes the reader feel deep sympathy and also it makes them doubt the reasons why the war is being fought.
Disabled starts just as shockingly with 'the young man sits in his ghastly suit of grey'. However, it is more straight forward and simple than Dulce, suggesting the simple needs and desires of the boy. The stanza still manages to bring the same emotions to the reader, especially when it talks about the other boys 'gathering sleep had mothered them from him'. Imagery like this is not used for the disabled boy but is used to describe the other children. This makes the reader feel that the young soldier is separated from the children. In this first stanza, he is 'waiting for the dark' which appears to be a metaphor for death and gives the reader the impression that this boy has been separated from society - so much so that all he has left to look forward to is death.
In comparison to these slow first stanzas, Dulce's second stanza starts with the sudden shout of 'Gas! Quick,