Wilfred Owen is a well renowned anti war poet. He wrote about his experience during "The Great War". When the war broke out, he was teaching English to a family in France and when he went back to England, he was caught up in the enlisting hype. He held back and did not enlist because he felt the war had nothing to do with him, though later on, after much pressure, he joined up believing it was his duty to go and fight. .
He served out on the front line for many months and he fought very bravely, surviving the Battle of the Somme. He was awarded a Military Cross for his efforts. On one particular raid, a shell landed near him and he was shell-shocked. He was sent back to England where he was transferred to Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland to be treated. .
At Craiglockhart, Owen heard that a published poet, Siegfried Sassoon, was undergoing treatment at the hospital and he decided to meet him. Owen introduced himself and told Sassoon of his poetic interest. Sassoon asked to see Owen's work and was very impressed. They collaborated and Owen improved his poetic skills and abilities. Sassoon suggested that Owen should write more about the war. Both poets then agreed that they should show the truth and horror of the war in their poems and to do this, it was necessary to be on the front line. They volunteered to go back. .
Although in different platoons, they wrote their poems based on what they felt about what went on around them. Wilfred Owen was shot and died during a raid on a French canal seven days before the Armistice was signed. Siegfried Sassoon survived, injured, and arranged the publication of Owen's poetry. In this essay, I shall analyse and compare two anti war poems written by Wilfred Owen. They are "Dulce et Decorum est" and "Disabled".
"Dulce et decorum" est is a very powerful and effective anti war poem. The poem depicts front line soldiers at the end of a very exhaustive span of duty.
