The language used by Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen, for The Soldier and Dulce Et Decorum Est is vastly different from each other, even though both poems were about war. Wilfred Owen uses language in Dulce Et Decorum Est to give the reader the impression that war is horrible and that dying for one's country is not all the glory and honour that it seems, and that in reality, dying in a war, no matter for what cause, can be both painful and full of suffering, while Rupert Brooke on the other hand, uses language in The Soldier, to give the reader the impression that dying in war for one's country, is very honourable, and glorious.
As both poets have different opinions about war, in fact, almost opposite opinions, each poet uses different types of diction, figurative language, imagery, sounds, and tones to achieve his purpose. In The Soldier, Rupert Brooke uses both fluid and long, yet well-linked sentences for his poem, thus giving the reader a soothing effect, for example, he only has three sentences over fourteen lines, and he uses a sentence such as, "And think, this heart, all evil shed away, a pulse in the eternal mind, no less gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; and laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, in hearts at peace, under an English heaven." That one sentence itself, consists of almost half the entire poem and the entire last stanza, but is extremely well linked, and with the smooth flow, the reader hardly realizes it. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen uses short and sudden sentences for his poem, thus creating a cacophonic and harsh effect, for example, "Men marched asleep", "Many had lost their boots" and "But limped on, blood-shod." .
The tone and atmosphere used and created by the two poets are also different, with each of them using diction and poetic devices, thus creating a tone and atmosphere to put across their point.
