I am going to compare two World War I poems. Both are by Wilfred Owen and both descried experiences of the soldiers in World War I. However, Dolce et decorum est' is about the front line, whilst Disabled' describes the experiences of a solider returning home.
In Dolce et decorum est' the soldiers were leaving the trenches after a long and exhausting span of duty. In the first verse Owen compares the soldiers to old beggars' and hags'. This suggests that they have lost their youthfulness. These men are compared to beggars who are at the bottom of society. Owen describes what a bad state they are in. he uses the word Blood-shod'. This word paints a vivid image of the men's feet. I think that this is effective because it uses hard syllables so you have to slow down your reading. Owen also puts a full stop after it; this emphasis's the word. The word Blood-shod' has images of red, black and scabby feet. He says that the men marched asleep all went lame' this is suggesting that they are stumbling and unsure.
The second verse is a contrast to the first. The men are frantic and there is an ecstasy of fumbling'. The word ecstasy has a meaning of happiness and joy, but also of frenzy. He says that the helmets are clumsy rather than the men. These men are being gassed and the gas is spreading all around them. There is one man who can't get his helmet on and the others can do nothing to help him. In this verse Owen uses the colour green twice. This is as though he is almost painting a picture of what's happening. Saying the man is drowning in a green sea is making it almost cinematic.
There are then two lines that are separate from the verse. This makes them more prominent and haunting. It brings the men's death more to life, because of the words he uses. These are words such as guttering'. These words have hard syllables and are onomatopoeic.
The fourth verse portrays what happens to the dead soldier; Owen uses vivid images to describe this.