Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Ok. Here's the poem as promised. Do some research on the background of the poet and compare his feelings to those of Claude Mckay. How different or similar are the 2 poems? What accounts for the differences?
ReplyDeleteOn first reading the poem, our minds are filled with horrific images of tired soldiers drenched in blood trudging through trenches. In the faces of each weary officer, we see no light in their eyes and no smile on their lips. We envisage bloodshot eyes of disheartened young men; hungry and tired, begging for relief. All in all, we are fully aware that we have been transported to the centre of a gruelling battle.
ReplyDeleteWilfred Owen was a soldier during the First World War. The knowledge of this further increases the reality of the poem. It is thus, with first-hand experience that he is able to vividly create a distinct picture of the realities of war. During World War 1 poisonous gases were a common weapon used by the feuding parties."Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling." On first joining the army, Owen was optimistic like many patriotic nationals, proud to be chosen to defend his home; Britain. However, as the war continued, the light in his eyes began to flicker; growing dim and the stride in his steps became a tired shuffling of exhausted feet. The poet speaks of the war with a dose of contempt. All he sees around him are young strong innocent men dying; their breath snuffed away; for no reason. The poet presents a rather graphic description of the war, highlighting its many shortcomings; as such, it is no surprise that he ends the poem chastising those who seek to con children into believing that, "It is sweet and honourable to die for one's country."
The main distinction between Owen's poem and Mckay's "If We Must Die," is the way both poets view their respective battles. Mckay, a Jamaican native, finds himself in a foreign country and is utterly surprised by the harsh realities of racism. While Owen describes the war in horrific details; harping on the fact that men are suffering and dying for reasons unknown to most of them, Mckay's poem is one of encouragement and inspiration. Mckay and his "kinsmen" are fully aware of the battle before them. It is a personal struggle of the coloured people in America. Mckay writes motivated by the occurrences of the Red Summer of 1919. During this period, riots arose in various parts of America in which whites attacked the blacks. Many blacks were lynched, burnt at stake and others subjected to inhuman treatments by their white counterparts. The blacks have been wronged and brutalized by the whites and the authorities sit idly by with folded arms. Mckay calls for his "kinsmen" to press forward to meet the common foe. (line 9) Mckay sees the battle between blacks and white in America as inevitable and as such, "If we must die, O let us nobly die." (line 5) This is not just any battle, but a battle of survival; to defend themselves against annihilation by the whites. Mckay's poem can be seen as a speech of encouragement; much like Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
What was the reason for World War 1? And how did Britain find herself involved in a war which initially had nothing to do with her? Why were innocent young men being lured to their early graves with hearts full of joy; not knowing what really lay ahead? These could be questions that run through Owen's mind as he wrote his famous war poems.
Mckay's poem; an anthem of hope, encourages his fellow blacks to press forward though greatly outnumbered. "Though far outnumbered let us show us brave." (line 10) For their fight was not just for they alone; but for all blacks (their struggle also influenced the Negritude movement in France). Mckay saw the GLORY in their battle; he saw that though they may die, their sacrifice would not be forgotten; immortalizing them.
In the words of Owen, "It is sweet and honourable to die for one's country" is a lie; a children's fairytale. However, to Mckay, it is indeed sweet and honourable to die for one's beliefs. The belief in a non-racist America and the hope of a new tomorrow where their struggles and battle shall be no more.
Obviously, Wilfred Owen felt that he had been lied to. he joined the army feeling that it was an honourable and patriotic thing, and that even if he died, it was for his country. he has been named a war poet because all his poems were written when he was at war (first world war) where he fought for the french. before he went off to war, he had high expectations and was excited..he was itching to get out there, as most of the male youth during that time felt. he was only 19.
ReplyDeleteit was not until he actually experienced how the war was, that he knew the truth, that people were dying for nothing, and it had to stop. that people had lost all morals and their conscience and killing had become nothing to them. it is similar to Claude Mckay's 'If we must die' through how he described the horrors of war, and the sufferings he endured. in one of his letters to his mother, he wrote;'I have sufffered seventh hell!'. not just hell, but seventh hell, that shows how horrid the whole experience was for him. so much so that, he felt he needed to send a particular message across to his people, just as Mckay felt after going through the harshness of racism.
Mckay accepted that death, in their case was inevitable but they had to accept it in a certain way- with dignity, pride,and bravery till their last breath. Owen also accepted death, because in one of his letter to a friend months before he died he wrote; 'I know I shall be killed, but it's the only place I can make my protest from', but he thought it was a useless death and it could be prevented if the truth was told. he wanted to tell the truth. that it wasn't a sweet and honourable thing to die for one's country, it was a waste of life and a great sin. they were being killed, but he in particular did not want to fight back, he didn't want to kill too and that's where the difference is. Mckay wanted his people to fight back, he wanted them to 'deal one deathblow'.
Owen was described as someone who didn't fit the descriptions of a soldier because he was deeply christian- he was shy, unoffensive, bookish, introverted, unworldly, sensitive and caring. he cared about his people and he cared about the truth, because he stated that; '...suffer dishonour and disgrace, but never resort to arms. be bullied, be outraged, be killed, but do not kill..' he also said that; 'All a poet can do today is warn. that is why a true poet must be truthful' he did not want his people to retaliate.
after describing the horrors to us, he tells us that, if we saw, through his eyes, how war was to him, never again would we lie to the youth like he was lied to, never again would we fight each other. he was a front liner and so he saw death but it was hard for him to kill because of his christian values, his conscience did not allow him, he felt guilty, he even described himself to his mother in another letter that he was 'a conscientious objector with a very seared conscience'.
then he had an idea, that if he was to put his message across, the he had to show some form of bravery-gallantry, and win some admiration from his people, and then make his protests. so he did that. he won a military cross in september 1918, for seizing a German machine gun and killing a large number of Germans. that is when the change began. he lost his christian principles, and no longer felt so guilty..he was becoming like the other soldiers, no moral values and no conscience, just as he feared. he no longer cared about his life, he wanted to die and make his protest through his writings, so he put himself out there one last time and in November, 1918, he was shot and killed. Seven days later, the war ended.
in a way, he had died fighting to put across his message,that his people should not partake in the war..they would only die and it was no honourable way to die. whereas Mckay encouraged his people to die fighting their oppressors for it was the honourable way to die.
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ReplyDeleteUnlike Claude Mckay, Wilfred Owen a British soldier and a recognised poet of the First World War describe wars as scary and horrific. He sees no reason in innocent soldiers and other people fighting and dying in wars all in the name of being patriotic. Claude Mckay a Jamaican American in his poem 'if we must die'thinks it is an honour fighting and dieing for ones' nation whiles Wilfred Owen on the other hand doesn't. Claude Mckay's poem 'if we must die' can be said to be an inspirational or a motivational poem. Whereas Wilfred Owen's poem can be said to be 'an eye opener' to those who have been in a way lied to about wars.
ReplyDeleteBoth poets talk about encouragement from similar perspectives.
ReplyDeleteClaude Mckay encourages his fellow blacks to die fighting during the segregation period when they were despised by the whites from the shops to the buses.
Wilfred Owen also talks about encouragement. In the above poem, the poet gives a vivid description of soldiers experiences at war.The poet describes how soldiers and nationalists in general fight on till their breath extinguishes to redeem the dignity and pride of their countries.
In addition to this,there is an inherent joy and peace that an individual gets at the end of the day which is passed on to the next generations.
Nevertheless,both poems were written in different periods thus both poets had different diction which suited the situations at hand.
On the other hand, both poet use realistic language to put their message across.
Godfred Seibu is my name. In the poem “If we must die”, we picture the speaker of this poem like a brave, noble, inspiring leader fighting on the honorable but underdog team. Though we don't know who the speaker and his allies are, or why they are fighting, we're confident that there's a lot at stake. Lines 1 through 4 establish that the speaker and his allies are under attack. The speaker urges his allies not to give up without a fight. The next four lines draw on the emotions of the allies to die honorably. Lines 9 through 12 contain the speaker's rallying cry to his allies. He calls on them to fight back even though they have no chance of winning. The last two lines can be summed up like this: "Even though we're going to die, we are going to fight like men." This writer believes that there is some kind of honor in a brave death so he urges his people to keep fighting.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem “Doulce et Decorum est”, the writer was a soldier and he was in the First World War, so the landscape and the situation of wars are very good reflected in the poem. Our speaker lets us know right away, however, "normal" isn't a word that has any meaning for the soldiers anymore. They're all mentally and physically ravaged by the exertions of battle. Our speaker even watches as a member of his crew chokes and staggers in the toxic fumes, unable to save him from an excruciating certain death.
Now fast-forward. It's sometime after the battle, but our speaker just can't get the sight of his dying comrade out of his head. The soldier's image is everywhere: in the speaker's thoughts, in his dreams, in his poetry. Worst of all, our speaker can't do anything to help the dying soldier.
Bitterly, the speaker finally addresses the people at home who rally around the youth of England, and urge them to fight for personal glory and national honor. He wonders how they can continue to call for war. If they could only witness the physical agony war creates – or even experience the emotional trauma that the speaker's going through now – the speaker thinks they might change their views. In the speaker's mind, there's nothing glorious or honorable about death or, for that matter, war itself.
I see the writers as men going for battle with a common motive but one becomes weak in both heart and mind as he becomes disturbed by the actions and the pains at war while the other knowing that he will be defeated urges his people to fight till death, so they gather courage to fight having no other option but thinking about how they are going to die in battle.
wilfred Owen's poem , Dulce et Decorum Est is one that condemns the act of war and hence indirectly preaches peace . In the poem , the poet makes use of violent imagery's of soldiers running for cover 'though dunk with fatigue ' . Even worse , they meandering around exploding shells and gas . One soldier is eventually victimised and Owen describes the pain that he endures .Because of the experience of these soldiers ,Owen proclaims as a total lie the phrase , dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ; it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country .
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand , while Owen condemns the art of war , Claude Mckay in his poem 'If We Must Die' thinks it is honourable thing to do . In his poem , he gears his fellow black Americans ( minority ) to fight for what they believe even though he knows it might cost them their lives .This is as a result of his belief that fighting will force the 'monsters we defy' 'to honor us though dead'.In a sense , even though soldiers in 'dulce et decorum est' will be honoured , Owen cherishes their lives more contrary to Mckay .
From Owen's point of view in his poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est," he sees war to be horrible and tirrible as many lives are claimed in the name of fighting to defend their country. He gives a vivid account about the horrors of war as the soldiers eyes look blood shot, they keep walking although they are fainting and how they breath in poisonous gases. Owen strongly discourage the act of young men being recruited into the army and they are deceived into doing what is morally wrong by killing at the battle grounds as an honour. But it was quite unfortunate that at the latter part of the war he also killed many German soldiers although he was against such acts.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast,Mckay also believe it is right to fight especially for one believes in, as he encouraged the blacks to keep fighting their white counterparts even to the point of death in his poem, "If WE Must Die." Mckay sees it as an honour to die fighting than to sit there doing nothing about the way the whites treated the blacks as inferior people. He agrees that the fate of most blacks is death as they are in the the minority and are having almost everything against them but all hope is not lost despite the many times the whites strike them.A single blow from the blacks will affect and cause great damage to the whites so the blacks should keep fighting with pride.
This is Frederick VonWolff. in McKay's poem "If We Must Die" we see a desire for patriotism, ie wanting to die in order to gain freedom from oppression. McKay's poem when compared to Wilfred's poem " Dulce et Decorum Est," there is a big difference in their thoughts and the way they express their emotions. whereas McKay urges his people to fight for the liberation of their race, Wilfred tells his people as stated in the last line not to deceive their relatives into waging war for their country which he considers a waste of life and time because there is no honour in such a death. Both poets see battles in different waves due to their background where Wilfred in seen as a soldier for his country and McKay who is a civilian in a hot racial segregation tries to tell his people to "fight for their rights"
ReplyDeleteUpon reading the poem,the images that are created on the minds of the readers are that of horror,tribulation,pain and great anguish.This is portrayed in the use of words such as "blood-shod,"man in fire" and "limped" which all creates a true nature and picture of war.The poet succeeds in communicating his message well through his diction and tone perhaps due to his personal experience as a soldier during the first world war.
ReplyDeleteHowever,even though both Wilfred and McKay have experiences about war, they express different ideas,emotions and concerns.while McKay encourages the fight for ones liberation,Owen sees the waging of war unimportant as it wastes life in the course.