Thank you very much for helping me! Your information was really of help can you say that?)

Question

Here is a paragraph I wrote on Dulce et Decorum Est by Owen. I know it is incomplete. I also need to find more data on the "War poets" and on this poem, too. Can you help m?

1) This poem is a manifesto against war and is addressed to those who claim that war is right and glorious. 2) Through anti-heroic images, Owen gives an insight into what he calls “the pity of war”, its humane aspects.
3) In the first stanza the soldiers are retreating towards the trenches. 4) They are tired, scared; they cough and are made blind as a result of the gas of the shells.
5) (They are weary because of moral and physical exhaustion). In the second stanza there is the description of a gas attack: the men try to put on their masks in the green light and the poet’s friend is wounded.
6) (The movements of the soldiers are convulsive and frantic because of panic).
7) In the third stanza the sight of the dying friend returns in the poets dreams. In the fourth stanza the poet describes his friend’s horrible death from chemical warfare and conveys the message of the poem.
8) The poet is probably addressing those people who think of war as a noble adventure.The poem is rich in alliteration, repetition of sounds and onomatopoeia.

Can you say "He is frightened of the lion? Does it have the same meaning as "He is frightened by the lion?" Thank you.

Answer 1

This is the site I always go to when I want to find WWI literature: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit
Be sure to explore everything here. It's an amazing collection, and it's easy to find things here.

One thing I've never felt is a "war-protest" attitude in Owen's writing. It's there in other people's work, but not his. The "pity of war" (isn't it a shame this has to happen) seems to be what is all through his work.

1) This poem is a manifesto about the madness of war and is addressed to those who claim that war is right and glorious.

2) Through anti-heroic images, Owen gives an insight into what he calls “the pity of war”, its humane aspects.

3) In the first stanza, the soldiers are retreating towards the trenches.

4) They are tired, scared; they cough and are made blind as a result of the gas of the shells.

5) (They are weary because of moral and physical exhaustion). In the second stanza there is the description of a gas attack: the men try to put on their masks in the green light, but the poet’s friend can't get his mask on fast enough.

6) The movements of the soldiers are convulsive and frantic because of panic.

7) In the third stanza, the memory of seeing his dying friend returns in the poet's dreams. In the fourth stanza, the poet describes his friend’s horrible death from chemical warfare and conveys the message of the poem.

8) The poet is probably addressing those people who think of war as a noble adventure. The poem is rich in alliteration, repetition of sounds, and onomatopoeia.

Very nice!

Can you say "He is frightened of the lion? Does it have the same meaning as "He is frightened by the lion?" Thank you.

Yes, "frightened of" and "frightened by" have the same meaning.

This is pretty good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_War_poetry#World_War_I
Be sure to check out the references and external links at the bottom of the webpage, too.

Answer 2

The phrase "dulce et decorum est" is from Roman days, and it reflects an attitude inherited from the ancient Greeks. Consider Achilles, whose mother was reported to have said, as he went off to some war (maybe the Trojan War), that he should come home with his shield (alive and holding it proudly) or on it (dead and carried by others on his own shield to indicate he died bravely in battle).

I've always been horrified by that, but that's the story. It'd be interesting to know if it's true or not!!