Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen Essay -- English Literature

Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen Since the threat of war in some part of the world everyday and because of the colossal impact that it has had on our lives, it doesn't seem surprising that it is a popular theme of poetry. Sonnets are an extremely passionate form of poetry, used to show how the poet feels in their heart; both Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen create this passion in excellent, but very different ways. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen is a Shakespearean sonnet reflecting on the callous life at war. Owen wrote this poem during his four months at Craiglockhart, a war hospital, whilst recovering from trench fever. Faced with many fatally injured men, this must have inspired him to write a great deal. Unlike Brooke's poem "The Soldier", Owen portrays, not a glorified or heroic war, but a realistic war. Rupert Brooke, having not witnessed war, had attitudes showing the hysteria of war in 1914 projected to him, and knowing no different he had to believe it. The title "Anthem for Doomed Youth" has a huge sense of deliberate irony, stressing how brainless war appears to Owen. To Brooke on the other hand, war is far from pointless; it is something one does to receive admiration from their nation. Our first thought of an "Anthem" is a song of pride, love, passion and honor, but when such a word is followed by "doom", it takes away the glee and puts a feeling of misery, implying an inevitable death, in replacement. "Youth" also used in the title adds to the horror, as these are men with their whole lives in front of them. Full of solemn comparisons, it is a poem about the traditional funeral being substituted by the one that war has created. Owen writes" What passing-bells for these who die a... ...cally, ahead of his time, that war is not, by any means, right. However there is genuine optimism in Brooke's poem, to him, it was an honour to fight for his country; it was an honour to die for your country. Out of both of these sonnets my favorite has to be "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen. I like the way that he includes the reader in the sonnet from the very start. I also can relate to Owen's poem and I find it more thought provoking as I can't even begin to be in agreement to Brooke's reasoning behind "The Soldier", but this does shows me the attitude cultivated from the home front. With both of these sonnets, being so different, it brings me to a thorough understanding of both backgrounds and attitudes. The contrast between Owen and Brooke allows the reader to see the reality of the First World War from two totally different perspectives. Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen Essay -- English Literature Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen Since the threat of war in some part of the world everyday and because of the colossal impact that it has had on our lives, it doesn't seem surprising that it is a popular theme of poetry. Sonnets are an extremely passionate form of poetry, used to show how the poet feels in their heart; both Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen create this passion in excellent, but very different ways. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen is a Shakespearean sonnet reflecting on the callous life at war. Owen wrote this poem during his four months at Craiglockhart, a war hospital, whilst recovering from trench fever. Faced with many fatally injured men, this must have inspired him to write a great deal. Unlike Brooke's poem "The Soldier", Owen portrays, not a glorified or heroic war, but a realistic war. Rupert Brooke, having not witnessed war, had attitudes showing the hysteria of war in 1914 projected to him, and knowing no different he had to believe it. The title "Anthem for Doomed Youth" has a huge sense of deliberate irony, stressing how brainless war appears to Owen. To Brooke on the other hand, war is far from pointless; it is something one does to receive admiration from their nation. Our first thought of an "Anthem" is a song of pride, love, passion and honor, but when such a word is followed by "doom", it takes away the glee and puts a feeling of misery, implying an inevitable death, in replacement. "Youth" also used in the title adds to the horror, as these are men with their whole lives in front of them. Full of solemn comparisons, it is a poem about the traditional funeral being substituted by the one that war has created. Owen writes" What passing-bells for these who die a... ...cally, ahead of his time, that war is not, by any means, right. However there is genuine optimism in Brooke's poem, to him, it was an honour to fight for his country; it was an honour to die for your country. Out of both of these sonnets my favorite has to be "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen. I like the way that he includes the reader in the sonnet from the very start. I also can relate to Owen's poem and I find it more thought provoking as I can't even begin to be in agreement to Brooke's reasoning behind "The Soldier", but this does shows me the attitude cultivated from the home front. With both of these sonnets, being so different, it brings me to a thorough understanding of both backgrounds and attitudes. The contrast between Owen and Brooke allows the reader to see the reality of the First World War from two totally different perspectives.