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Dulce Et Decorum Est By Jessie Pope Analysis

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World War 1 was depicted with very contrasive images, during the time it was represented as a noble and glorious cause, however many soon became aware of the agony and pain that inncoent soldiers went through everyday as they single- handedly witnessed thousands die. In this essay, I will compare two poems written by poets who had very conflicting conations, one patriotic and the other inflicting the harsh realities of war, “Who’s for the Game?” and “Dulce Et Decorum Est”. Who’s for the game” was written by Jessie Pope to encourage men to enlist in the war. She was a propagandist who conjectured the fact that war was incredible and that it was moral and sweet for a young man to die for his country. Whereas, “Dulce Et Decorum Est” was written …show more content…

Pope regarded war as an enjoyable and exciting experience, and implied that “com[ing] back with a crutch” was more desirable than returning unscathed and “be[ing] out of the fun”. Pope encourages injury as evidence of soldiers’ bravery- as some sort of souvenir. Danger is described as a “game”- boldly comparing the terrors of war to a “show”, and encouraging the reader not to “take a seat in the stand”. On the contrary, Wilfred Owen, who served in the war and suffered from PTSD, wrote ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ in anguish and agony. This illustration describes injury as the opposite, describing a sickly army, “drunk with fatigue”, “coughing like hags” and limping, so worn to the point they they “marched asleep”. Owen portrays death as scarring, helpless and terrifying when describing a comrade’s death and grotesque corpse. This depiction serves to disgust the reader by comparing the man’s face to something so obscene it is almost unimaginable. Wilfred Owen claimed the war was horrifying and demoralising, that war is not as glorious as it may seem. Pope regards danger as “fun” and instead glorifies injuries as to describe them as

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