Destruction of the Human Spirit
The poems of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen examine the horrors of war and question the patriotic fervor that sends young men to their graves. In his poem, "A Night Attack", Siegfried Sassoon expresses his disillusionment with senseless brutality of war. The poet, Wilfred Owen, questions the valor of war in his poems, “Insensibility”, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, by illustrates the waste that comes of youth in war. Together, the poets convey how war destroys mind, body and spirit of men. Both Sassoon and Owen illustrate how war robs men of their youth and destroys their innocence, in the end, leaving young men horribly broken and disalusioned. The poems poiniently confront the myth of glory in war.
The imagery of these poems convey the destructive effects of war on a person’s psyche. Acording to Sassoon, youth are filled with sounds and smells that will always haunt them. He says, "The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still / And I remember things I'd best forget" (1-2)..., and the voices of “wounded men ... moaning” (12) engage the senses to depict the reality of war. In lines (37-38) the sounds of “heavy shrapnel bursting low, and “hows” / Whistling” depict the sounds of war that affect men’s minds and remain with them indefinately.
The images Sassoon describes are the images of death that have imprinted themselves on the minds of young men. He writes, “Then I remembered someone I'd seen / Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch / Heedless of toiling feet that trod him down”(28-30). Images of destruction are reflected in the eyes of young men, in line 18 of Sassoon's "A Night Attack", he writes, "Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze"(18) to describe the fear of a fellow soldier. These lines allude to the dehumanizing nature of war and contrasts ideas of bravery and honor. Sassoon's poem illustrates how war leaves the human psyche permenantly scarred.
Sassoon's poem paints war as indiscriminate and destructive. The indiscriminate nature of war is expressed by the poet when he says “last week they might have died; / And now they stretch their limbs in tired content” (23), showing the randomness of war in which life is somehow trivialized. He describes, "fields of death"(17) describing the scale of loss. The peom describes the death Sassoon has witnessed in war; He recalls the sounds of a soldier who simply “gave a grunt / And moaned and died with agony in the sludge"(39-40), which he calls the "the unpitying waste"(17), which devastate and ruins men leaving them mangeled and lifeless.
The poet describes the loss of youth and innocence that happens when young men go to war. There is a paradox in that the vitality of youth is used to end life. The poet illustrates this paradox when he describes an enemy soldier crumpled and dead; "his sturdy legs / Were bent beneath his trunk; (his) heels to the sky"(60-61), a vivid picture of young men filled with promise, reduced to crumpled corpses. Sassoon illustrates the youth that is "bent" by the destruction of war and wasted in the fighting of war. In Sassoon's "A Night Attack", young men are left "Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch"(29) signifying the waste of youth and loss of innocence as men experience death all around them.
The poet examines the destruction of humanity within a soldier as they are confronted with taking an enemy life. He describes an enemy soldier, saying, "He was a Prussian with a decent face, Young, fresh, and pleasant"(31) illustrating the recognition of all mens humanity. Sasson's description sharply contrasts the dehumanizing influences of war. He identifies with the dead soldier, saying, "No doubt he loathed the war and longed for peace, / And cursed our souls because we'd killed his friends"(33). Sassoon addresses the value of life, and examines the bond that men share in war irespective of sides. He laments the loss of human potential in the death of his enemy.
In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Owen expresses the utter misery of war to those who have never experienced it and to others who write about the glory of war for youth. He describes his experience of war, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge” (1-2) in which men trudge “towards our distant rest”, that signifies the long ordeal that ends in death. He recounts how:
“Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.” (5-8)
His description of the horrid conditions sharply contrasts the glory of war that is often taught to children.
The poet vividly describes the horror of war and challenges those who attempt to indoctrinate young minds with patriotic notions of glory (see footnote 2 p.498). Owen attacks the patriotic rhetoric which he calls “The old Lie”: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori” (27-28). In English the patriotic slogan reads, “Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country” (footnote 3), which Owen suggests is often used by political agents to glorify war; most of whom have never experienced the reality of war. The poet’s vivid and nightmarish description of agonizing death juxtaposes the patriotic rhetoric that he calls “The old Lie.”
In his poem, Owen describes the psychic trauma of a gas attack. He suggests that if others were haunted by the same images of death they would not be so eager to send young men to war. The psychological damage is expressed by Owen when he writes, ‘In all my dreams before my helpless sight / he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning” (15-16); these are the images of war that leave permanent psychological wounds on a soldier’s mind. He concludes that those who have experienced the horror and waste of war would not write so valorously about it.
In his poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, Owen addresses the enormity of human loss; the poem expresses the cruel and inhuman character of war. Owen laments that men “die as cattle” (1) without so much as a song. He describes the horrific sounds that he calls “demented choirs of wailing shells” (7) that alone commemorate men’s death. He suggests that man’s humanity is destroyed by the inhuman nature of war. He describes the affect of war on the soldiers mind, body and soul that “can patter out their hasty orisons” (4), describes the light of life in boys’ eyes that is destroyed by the “monstrous anger of guns” (2), which hastily extinguishes men’s final prayers.
Owen articulates the mental damage of war when he says, “each slow dusk a drawing -down of blinds” (14), suggesting the gradual destruction of a persons mind because of war. He tells that each awful experience cuts at “the tenderness of silent minds” (13) and leaves the young soldiers in ruin.
His poem, “Insensibility”, poignantly expresses his disillusionment with the patriotic fervor that sends men to be killed. His proverbial poetic style echoes the beatitudes of Jesus expressed in Biblical text of Matthew 5.1-11. He denies the glory of war that is taught by many and attacks the “Insensibility” of those nationalistic voices in his poem by illustrating the horrendous cost of war on the spirit and psyche of soldiers. Owen again juxtaposes the competing choice to embrace humanity or inhumanity in his final proverb, “cursed are dullards...” (6:1) who “By choice they made themselves immune” (6:5) to “whatever moans in man” (6:6) and “whatever shares / The eternal reciprocity of tears” (6:9-10) that suggests the voice of humanity that resides within every person.
Both Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon vehemently deny any imagined glory of war, but instead depict war as a nightmare, filled with haunting sights, shrill sounds and rank smells. Sassoon relays the memories that haunt him, in his poem, "Night Attack", and unfolds for his reader the loss of youth and the destruction of mind, body and soul in a war that has little apparent reason. The journey that Sassoon and Owen take is one that ventures into their own psyche’s to share the inexplicable loss experienced in war and reject glorified notions of war. Sigfried Sasson and Wilfred Owen show war as they experience it, full of pain and horrors, and ultimatly, a destroyer of the human spirit.
Bibliography
Sassoon, Siegfried. “A Night Attack.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (451-452)
Owen, Wilfred. “Insesibility.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (496-498)
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (498)
Owen, Wilfred. “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (499)
Oxford American Dictionaries. Copyright © 2005 Oxford University Press. November 24, 2005.
The imagery of these poems convey the destructive effects of war on a person’s psyche. Acording to Sassoon, youth are filled with sounds and smells that will always haunt them. He says, "The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still / And I remember things I'd best forget" (1-2)..., and the voices of “wounded men ... moaning” (12) engage the senses to depict the reality of war. In lines (37-38) the sounds of “heavy shrapnel bursting low, and “hows” / Whistling” depict the sounds of war that affect men’s minds and remain with them indefinately.
The images Sassoon describes are the images of death that have imprinted themselves on the minds of young men. He writes, “Then I remembered someone I'd seen / Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch / Heedless of toiling feet that trod him down”(28-30). Images of destruction are reflected in the eyes of young men, in line 18 of Sassoon's "A Night Attack", he writes, "Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze"(18) to describe the fear of a fellow soldier. These lines allude to the dehumanizing nature of war and contrasts ideas of bravery and honor. Sassoon's poem illustrates how war leaves the human psyche permenantly scarred.
Sassoon's poem paints war as indiscriminate and destructive. The indiscriminate nature of war is expressed by the poet when he says “last week they might have died; / And now they stretch their limbs in tired content” (23), showing the randomness of war in which life is somehow trivialized. He describes, "fields of death"(17) describing the scale of loss. The peom describes the death Sassoon has witnessed in war; He recalls the sounds of a soldier who simply “gave a grunt / And moaned and died with agony in the sludge"(39-40), which he calls the "the unpitying waste"(17), which devastate and ruins men leaving them mangeled and lifeless.
The poet describes the loss of youth and innocence that happens when young men go to war. There is a paradox in that the vitality of youth is used to end life. The poet illustrates this paradox when he describes an enemy soldier crumpled and dead; "his sturdy legs / Were bent beneath his trunk; (his) heels to the sky"(60-61), a vivid picture of young men filled with promise, reduced to crumpled corpses. Sassoon illustrates the youth that is "bent" by the destruction of war and wasted in the fighting of war. In Sassoon's "A Night Attack", young men are left "Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch"(29) signifying the waste of youth and loss of innocence as men experience death all around them.
The poet examines the destruction of humanity within a soldier as they are confronted with taking an enemy life. He describes an enemy soldier, saying, "He was a Prussian with a decent face, Young, fresh, and pleasant"(31) illustrating the recognition of all mens humanity. Sasson's description sharply contrasts the dehumanizing influences of war. He identifies with the dead soldier, saying, "No doubt he loathed the war and longed for peace, / And cursed our souls because we'd killed his friends"(33). Sassoon addresses the value of life, and examines the bond that men share in war irespective of sides. He laments the loss of human potential in the death of his enemy.
In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Owen expresses the utter misery of war to those who have never experienced it and to others who write about the glory of war for youth. He describes his experience of war, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge” (1-2) in which men trudge “towards our distant rest”, that signifies the long ordeal that ends in death. He recounts how:
“Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.” (5-8)
His description of the horrid conditions sharply contrasts the glory of war that is often taught to children.
The poet vividly describes the horror of war and challenges those who attempt to indoctrinate young minds with patriotic notions of glory (see footnote 2 p.498). Owen attacks the patriotic rhetoric which he calls “The old Lie”: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori” (27-28). In English the patriotic slogan reads, “Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country” (footnote 3), which Owen suggests is often used by political agents to glorify war; most of whom have never experienced the reality of war. The poet’s vivid and nightmarish description of agonizing death juxtaposes the patriotic rhetoric that he calls “The old Lie.”
In his poem, Owen describes the psychic trauma of a gas attack. He suggests that if others were haunted by the same images of death they would not be so eager to send young men to war. The psychological damage is expressed by Owen when he writes, ‘In all my dreams before my helpless sight / he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning” (15-16); these are the images of war that leave permanent psychological wounds on a soldier’s mind. He concludes that those who have experienced the horror and waste of war would not write so valorously about it.
In his poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, Owen addresses the enormity of human loss; the poem expresses the cruel and inhuman character of war. Owen laments that men “die as cattle” (1) without so much as a song. He describes the horrific sounds that he calls “demented choirs of wailing shells” (7) that alone commemorate men’s death. He suggests that man’s humanity is destroyed by the inhuman nature of war. He describes the affect of war on the soldiers mind, body and soul that “can patter out their hasty orisons” (4), describes the light of life in boys’ eyes that is destroyed by the “monstrous anger of guns” (2), which hastily extinguishes men’s final prayers.
Owen articulates the mental damage of war when he says, “each slow dusk a drawing -down of blinds” (14), suggesting the gradual destruction of a persons mind because of war. He tells that each awful experience cuts at “the tenderness of silent minds” (13) and leaves the young soldiers in ruin.
His poem, “Insensibility”, poignantly expresses his disillusionment with the patriotic fervor that sends men to be killed. His proverbial poetic style echoes the beatitudes of Jesus expressed in Biblical text of Matthew 5.1-11. He denies the glory of war that is taught by many and attacks the “Insensibility” of those nationalistic voices in his poem by illustrating the horrendous cost of war on the spirit and psyche of soldiers. Owen again juxtaposes the competing choice to embrace humanity or inhumanity in his final proverb, “cursed are dullards...” (6:1) who “By choice they made themselves immune” (6:5) to “whatever moans in man” (6:6) and “whatever shares / The eternal reciprocity of tears” (6:9-10) that suggests the voice of humanity that resides within every person.
Both Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon vehemently deny any imagined glory of war, but instead depict war as a nightmare, filled with haunting sights, shrill sounds and rank smells. Sassoon relays the memories that haunt him, in his poem, "Night Attack", and unfolds for his reader the loss of youth and the destruction of mind, body and soul in a war that has little apparent reason. The journey that Sassoon and Owen take is one that ventures into their own psyche’s to share the inexplicable loss experienced in war and reject glorified notions of war. Sigfried Sasson and Wilfred Owen show war as they experience it, full of pain and horrors, and ultimatly, a destroyer of the human spirit.
Bibliography
Sassoon, Siegfried. “A Night Attack.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (451-452)
Owen, Wilfred. “Insesibility.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (496-498)
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (498)
Owen, Wilfred. “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Hebert Rosengarten and Amanda Goldrick-Jones. Broadview Press: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7H5, 1993. (499)
Oxford American Dictionaries. Copyright © 2005 Oxford University Press. November 24, 2005.
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