Compare and contrast one poem you.
Have studied by Wilfred Owen and.
One poem you have studied.
By Siegfried Sassoon.
Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen were both soldiers in the First World War and met in Craig Lockhart hospital, both suffering from shell shock.
Sassoon came from a rich, banker, family, enlisted and took his own horses to fight in the war. After fighting, Sassoon became disillusioned by the war and wrote a statement to his commanding officer refusing any more service. Instead of being shot (a fate for those who refused service) the officer thought Sassoon was insane, so he was sent to Craig Lockhart hospital to be treated for shell shock.
Wilfred Owen was born in Shrewsbury, was the son of a railway worker and also enlisted himself to fight in the war. Owen also realized how cruel and brutal the war was and wanted to show the public the truth about it but didn't know how until he read a book of poems about the war by Sassoon. When Owen discovered he was at the same hospital as the poet, he was determined to meet him. The two poets became friends and wrote powerful poetry together about the harsh reality of war.
Both Owen and Sassoon wrote their poems with one message and one purpose in mind. The purpose being to bring home the truth of the war to show civilians exactly what happened in those lice ridden, muddy trenches and to show them that Jessie Pope was completely wrong. The message of their poems being that war is no game with marching, clean uniformed soldiers, glory and dignity, that war is not something to do if you want to impress people and gain their respect. To make civilians see that there is no respect lying in a wheelchair with no limbs, waiting dependently for someone to put you to bed, people looking at you as if you are a disease. Through graphic imagery and dramatic language, Sassoon and Owen did exactly what they wanted to.
