Poems

Interpretation of poems

Dulce et decorum est are the first words of a Latin saying taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.
The opening of the poem suggests Owen pities the state to which the soldiers have fallen. Instead of youthful, strong fighters the y are 'Bent double', 'Knock-kneed, coughing like hags'. Owen's imagery presents the men as weakened. War has broken these men, and they are described in the most unglamorous, inglorious manner. Owen's bitterness at this transformation is obvious.
Owen's disillusionment with war is also clear from the closing lines of the poem. After describing the horrifying effects of the gas attack he addresses the reader:
'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie'
He is rejecting the accepted attitude back at home that serving your country in war is glorious. He is critical of the 'high zest', or great enthusiasm, used to convince men to go to war. He sees war as brutal and wasteful of young lives. His choice of the word 'children' is also significant; impressionable young men are almost lured to war by the promise of 'desperate glory'.

This definitely falls into the category of black humour, as it is hard to imagine how a father could be quite so detached when identifying the body of his dead son. However, there is more "black" than humour here, because, as the details mount, the reader becomes increasingly horrified by the apparent callousness of the father as he examines the fire-blackened body of a child without appearing to exhibit any emotion at all, whether or not this turns out to be Stephen mcgough cleverly piles detail upon detail to convince the reader, if not the father, that this is definitely Stephen. However, what the details also show is that the relationship between father and son must have been a distant one in which the father showed no love or affection for Stephen while he was alive, any more than he does now that he is dead.

The event is true and is about Stephen parker, a fourteen year old boy who was blown up by an IRA car bomb during the bombing of Belfast in July 1972, eighteen bombs went off throughout Belfast in the space of two hours Stephen noticed the car bomb outside cave hill shops and ran about warning people but was caught up in the blast, he was given the medal of bravery for his actions, nine people in total were killed, 150 IRA men carried out the bombings but only one was convicted.

“The Identification” by Roger McGough is a poem in which there is a Character for whom I feel sympathy. I will explain why I feel sympathetic towards that person and what particular words and phrases the poet uses which made me feel this way.The poem is about a boy named Stephen, who was tragically killed in an explosion. His father is called to the police station to check if that's his son. His father's hopes are shattered as nearly all the evidence proves that it is Stephen lying in front of him.The poet uses many words and phrases which make me feel sympathy towards Stephen's father. When Stephen's father enters the room, he says, “So you think it's Stephen?Then I'd best make sure.Be on the safe side as it were. ”I sympathise with Stephen's father here because he is very nervous about seeing the body for the first time. His use of cliché emphasis his anxiety about the strong possibility that his son is no more. When Stephen's father sees the hair of the body, he says, “Ah, there's been a mistake. The hairyou see, it's black, now Stephen's fair...”I feel for the man here because when he sees the hair his hopes are raised that the body in front of him is not his son's. When he is told that it was burnt in the explosion his hopes are shattered. “Burnt black” emphasis on the painful injuries Stephen must have suffered. This is an awful thing to experience as a parent.