An idea or animal that is nonhuman, is bequeathed with human virtues. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front he emphasizes poetic language by giving the idea human virtues. Remarque refers to nature as a girl “one begins to observe Nature and to love her” (Remarque 189). Remarque says love as referring nature to a woman. As Remarque referred nature to a woman this is giving nature a humanistic quality. However, Wilfred Owen does the same thing with a soldier “deaf even to the …show more content…
hoots of disappointed shells that dropped behind” (Owen 7-8). Owen indicates that the shells are shown as disappointed, as a means to give the shells human feelings. Overall personification helps the author’s, both highlight their poetic language.
A simile is used to compare two unlike things and to make descriptions more vivid.
In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front he uses similes to compare the soldiers to objects. In this case Remarque compares Paul and his fellow comrades to lightning, “the command came: “Change at Löhne!” “and like lightning everyone scrambled under the bed to the opposite side” (Remarque 43). Throughout the novel Remarque uses similes and other various literary devices to express his poetic language. Wilfred Owen and Erich Maria Remarque are alike because they both try to convey their poetic language by using similes. Poet Wilfred Owen wrote the poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est”. Owen expresses his poetic language by comparing the stumbling soldier to a man stumbling in fire or lime. The soldier that was caught in the middle of the gas attack was stumbling around and started “floundering like a man in fire or lime” (Owen 12). However the use of similes benefits both author’s works to convey their poetic
language.
Figurative language is used to embody objects, ideas, and actions in a means to appeal to our physical senses. Remarque appeals to the physical senses by employing the idea of imagery. Remarque utilizes descriptive words while describing the shells crashing down, “ surging sea, daggers of flame from the explosions leap up like fountains” (Remarque 66). The descriptive words Remarque uses help to visualize what is really going on, they help paint a picture in our mind. Wilfred Owen uses descriptive words like Remarque. Wilfred Owen describes the gas attack as “through the misty panes and thick green light as under a green sea” (Owen 13-14). Wilfred Owen uses words like misty to describe the panes and calls the gas a green sea, to paint a picture. The use of descriptive words by Remarque and Owen appeals to our physical senses. Nevertheless, the use of imagery helps both authors convey their own distinctive poetic language. Erich Maria Remarque uses personification, simile, and imagery in his novel to transcend space and time. Wilfred Owen uses personification, simile, and imagery to display how truly horrific war is. The two authors use literary devices to help the readers visualize what is happening in the text. Although both author’s works have their differences they both utilize literary devices to create a very distinctive poetic language.