Comparing Owens Dulce et Decorum Est and Cranes Do Not...

Comparing Owens Dulce et Decorum Est and Cranes Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind Both Stephen Cranes Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind and Wilfred Owens Dulce et Decorum Est use vivid images, diction rich with connotation, similes, and metaphors to portray the irony between the idealized glory of war and the lurid reality of war. However, by looking at the different ways these elements are used in each poem, it is clear that the speakers in the two poems are soldiers who come from opposite ends of the spectrum of military ranks. One speaker is an officer and the other is a foot soldier. Each of the speakers/soldiers is dealing with the repercussions from his own realities of the horror of war based on his duty†¦show more content†¦The most vivid and shocking image used is when the speaker internally addresses the child and tells him that his father tumbled in the yellow trenches, / Raged at his breast, gulped and died (13-14). This is not something one would tell a child, especially when consoling him. The use of the word trenches, which could be meta phors for graves, contributes to the implicit theme of a funeral setting. This contradiction between verbally comforting family members and internally giving them detailed descriptions of their loved ones death, shows the speakers struggle with the idea that families and others typically hear the glossed-over story of the nobility of soldiers and the glory of war. This speaker is battling with his military duty of consoling the family members and with his conscience wanting to open their eyes to the fact that these men die gruesome and painful deaths. The second and fourth stanzas particularly support the theory that the officer is at the funeral of a lower-ranking soldier whom he led into battle. In the second and fourth stanzas, the officer is reviewing his own thoughts during the time of the battle; this is an indication that he is struggling with the decisions he has made. At the beginning of the second stanza, he uses an image of the Hoarse, booming