Painful realities :: English Literature:

Painful realities Poetry creates awareness of painful realities. This can be appreciated in particular to war poetry where generally it is the aim of the poet to educate people on the horrific events that take place during the bleak years on the battlefields. The painful realities are expressed through metaphors, similes, specific tone of language and mood. Furthermore, poets use tempo, reflections and questions in their writing in order to express their feelings and what war is essentially about. In order to study at how poetry creates awareness, four poems will be considered. These are War, Chick Martin Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen Grenade, Francis Scarfe Bombardment, D H Lawrence In the first poem, it is evident that painful realities are created through the author’s use of descriptive language and his ability to describe the scenes on the battle fields and the impacts later. There is no regular structure to the poem although there is a reoccurring line at the conclusion of each stanza; War is war, nothing more. This is the basis to the poem, explaining to readers that war is as it appears. It is as the gruesome scenes of violence, death and pain. There are The erratic shorter versus increase the intensity Dulce et Decorum Est creates the realities through careful structure. After describing how the soldiers, trudged through the mud, â€Å"blood shod and drunk with fatigue,† it then describes the gas bombs. With clever use of metaphor, the green gas becomes a misty sea where soldiers drown as their lungs are burnt. Owen then concludes his poem, questioning the government, questioning Jessie Pope and questioning the world that so ruthlessly lied to young men, forcing them to enlist. He questions the old adage, ‘dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,’ (it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.) The realities are so well depicted in this poem by Owen through the choice of punctuation and use of reflection. Exclamation marks are employed, exemplifying the intensity of the cries of the soldiers and how they tried to warn each other of the green sea. Owen is able to