Student Essay on Poetic Attitudes of World War I

Analyzes the different styles in which war poets conveyed their attitudes toward World War I. Describes how wartime poets wanted the war to be remembered as being a disaster, not a great game as British propaganda made out, so such a thing would not happen again.

There were many poems written in different styles and for different purposes about the 'Great War'. These were either for or against the War. Soldiers had a lot of time on their hands, whilst waiting on the Western front and when they were injured in hospital, to write poems. This is what Owen and Sassoon chose to do, to name but two. Along with many others, Sassoon and Owen wrote to inform the public of the harsh realities of war. They wanted the war to be remembered as being a disaster, not a great game as British propaganda made out, so such a thing would not happen again. Owen and Sassoon both use different techniques to undermine the propaganda of the day. Owen prefers to use horrific visual devices to convey the horrors and harsh realities.....