 Owen said ‘All a poet can do today is warn. The true poet must be truthful.

’ How
far do you agree that this is what Owen achieves in his poetry? In your answer you
should either refer to two or three poems in detail or range more widely through
his poems

‘All a poet can do today is warn. The true poet must be truthful.’ Anti –war poet Wilfred
Owen ‘s poems Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth explore this
statement. Each poem highlights the horrific truth about war and the negative
psychological and physical impact it had on soldiers. This statement is achieved
throughout all of Wilfred Owens works.

Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth highlights the dehumanizing impact war has
on young men, and also on society. Whilst the men are physically slaughtered, so too are
societies values, as the sacrificed soldiers are not even given a mark of respect in death
and burial. In anthem for doomed youth the quote, ‘what passing-bells for these who
die as cattle?’, shows a rhetorical question in which the youth are dehumanized and the
simile ‘as cattle’ establishes the slaughter of these men through a remorseful tone.
Another quote, ‘their flowers the tenderness of patient minds’, shows a metaphor,
traditional mark of respect will be absent from their funerals, flowers in their place,
they will get the thought of mourners back home. ‘Each slow dusk a drawing down of
the blinds’ is a quote that conveys that they try to remain ignorant of the immense
death and suffering that these youth face in the pursuit of ‘victory’. All these quotes
show Wilfred Owen being truthful to the readers and warning them of the horrors of
war. Owen’s message warns us of the negative consequences of war, not only through
the slaughter of youth, but also the slaughter of society’s values, a message still relevant
today. Within Owen’s poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, Owen highlights the pity of war
through questioning the senseless slaughter of war. Composed in 1917, Owen used the
poem as a protest to the slaughter of innocent youth on the battlefield. The pity of war
is further highlighted with Owen’s use of personification, “Monstrous anger of the guns”
as there is no dignity in anonymous deaths, just a waste of youth, as the only thing
signifying their deaths is the angry sound of gunfire. The futility of human existence and
the pointless of war is revealed in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ as Owen underlines the
glorification of war. The title of this poem like ‘anthem for doomed youth’ is deliberately
ironic as an anthem is commonly a happy song of praise but Owen is actually
condemning the loss of the youth's lives in war, not celebrating it. Moreover, the
adjective 'doomed' ads to the negative tone as it proposes the fate of youth is death
during the war. The men at war are dehumanised, and are no longer part of a
community, their lives were not celebrated with “prayers or bells/Nor any voices of
mourning” as Owen uses religious iconography to reinforce the dehumanising nature of
war as deaths are not even marked. The negative connotations of the soldiers
emphasises to the audience that they have been dehumanised as part of a mass
destruction and now will only be remembered through the grief and the psychological
impact of war of their loved ones.
The dehumnaizing nature of war is also explored in Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum est.
Here Owen is not only warning us of the physical impact of the war, but also shocking
readers out of their complacency that war is a glorious sacrifice. In the poem Wilfred
Owen warns the reader and tells them the truth of war. The quote, ‘Gas! GAS! Quick,
boys!’ is instructional language. Exclamation marks and repetition increase tension and
a sense of urgency. The capitalization evokes fear. Another quote, ‘bent double, like old
beggars under sacks’, allows the reader to see the effects of war and to show the ‘aging
effect’ the war has on the young soldiers. These quotes show Wilfred Owen being
truthful to the readers and warning them of the horrors of war. Owen’s horrific
language warns us that the impact of war will continue to resonate through the
generations, as dying for your country should never be seen as an honorouble way to
die. ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ portrays the pity of war through revealing the destruction
and devastation, as the poem questions the senseless slaughter of men at war. Owen
uses Ironic sarcasm in the title as ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ in which translates to ‘it is
sweet and honourable to die for one’s country’, as the poem’s title is entirely opposite to
the actual content of the poem. Owen reveals this to the audience so they may
understand that ‘The old lie’ is a tale for children and that adults should face the reality
that war is not glorified, but causes destruction. Further, Owen’s use of colour imagery
and simile “As under a green sea I saw him drowning” conveys to the audience, not only
the physical impact of the horror of war but the psychological impact as he retains
forever the nightmare of the man 'drowning' showing youth's lost innocence and loss of
life. Owen suggests the horror and futility of war, as it only cause grief and devastation
to the individuals at war and their families. Owen uses negative visual and aural
imagery such as Onomatopoeia to refer to the soldiers as “Knock-kneed” and similes
“coughing like hags” that not only compares them as ragged, dirty, and sick but
connotations of being uncared for emphasising the futility of war and human existence.
The psychological impact is then reinforced by the grotesque verbs “guttering, choking,
drowning” presenting the pointlessness of war to both the youth and the responder
who have lost their innocence, reinforcing the pity of war. Both texts are used by Owen
to reveal not only the pointlessness and cruelty of war, but also the pity in the poetry
that Owen has reflected through his imagery and textual features.

Wilfred Owen shows throughout all his poems ‘that all a poet can do today is warn. The
true poet must be truthful’. This is seen through the quotes and techniques in anthem
for doomed youth and dulce et decorum est. Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth
highlights the dehumanizing impact war has on young men, and also on society. Whilst
the men are physically slaughtered, so too are societies values, as the sacrificed soldiers
are not even given a mark of respect in death and burial. The dehumnaizing nature of
war is also explored in Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum est. Here Owen is not only
warning us of the physical impact of the war, but also shocking readers out of their
complacency that war is a glorious sacrifice.