Robert Graves And Wilfred Owen Essay Example For Students

Robert Graves And Wilfred Owen Essay Although the poems Recalling War by Robert Graves and MentalCases by Wilfred Owen are both concerned with the damage that war does tothe soldiers involved, they are different in almost every other respect. Owenspoem examines the physical and mental effects of war in a very personal anddirect way his voice is very much in evidence in this poem he has clearlyseen people like the mental cases who are described. It is also evident thatOwens own experiences of the war are described: he challenges the reader withterrifying images, in order that the reader can begin to comprehend the causesof the madness. Graves on the other hand is far more detached. His argument isdistant, using ancient images to explore the immediate and long-term effects ofwar on the soldier. The poem is a meditation on the title, Graves examining thedeveloping experiences and memories of war with a progression of images andmetaphors. Mental Cases is a forceful poem, containing threesubstantial stanzas which focus on different aspects of Owens subject. Thefirst stanza is a detailed description of what the mental cases look like. Their outward appearance is gruesome, Baring teeth that leer likeskulls', preparing the reader for the even more horrifying second stanza. The second verse concentrates on the mens past experiences, the deaths theyhave witnessed and the unimaginable nightmares they have lived through:Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. The last stanza concludesthe poem, explaining how the mens lives are haunted by their experiences, theygo mad because the past filters into every aspect of their present lives, themen retreat away from the memories and into madness. The form of Owens poem is,therefore, built around three main points: the appearance of the men, theirexperiences, and the effect this has on their lives. In Graves poem the form isalso key to understanding the poem, but perhaps in a less obvious way. Recalling War has five stanzas, in a form that corresponds to thepsychological emotions and physical experience war provokes. The first stanzadescribes how Graves expects the war to be remembered twenty years after theevent: the wounds have healed and the blind and handicapped men forget theinjuries the war caused, as their memories are blurred by the distance of time;The one-legged man forgets his leg of wood. In the second stanzaGraves moves on to question the nature of war. This verse is a description ofthe atmosphere and setting of war. Even when the season was the airiestMay/ Down pressed the sky, and we, oppressed, thrust out. The third stanzafocuses on the battle itself, and the fourth explores the aftermath of battleand the unbearable nature of the war. The fifth and final stanza returns to theideas expressed in the first stanza, of war being an unreal memory. The form ofthis poem is crucial to its understanding. The progressions marked by thestanzas highlights the argument G raves is making. Mental Cases andRecalling War are both poems that rely on the atmosphere and tonethey create, indeed this is a key source of their power. Owen creates aterrifying atmosphere throughout the poem, which is clearly a reflection of hissubject matter. Not only does Owen describe in awful detail the shockingappearance of the men, he also includes horrific images of war. The tone is verypowerful, with Owen asking questions in the first stanza, but who arethese hellish?, a device which cleverly establishes direct contact withthe reader and an engaging discourse. This connection with the reader isexploited in the second verse, in which the reader experiences the full force ofOwens imagery. The final stanza opens with a tone that is factual: -Thustheir hands are plucking at each other, summarizing the fact that thesemen behave the way they do because of the events they have and are experiencing. Owen ends the poem by insisting on the complicity of both himself and the readerin the fate of these men, an accusation which, after the powerful prelude, ishard to deny. Whereas Owens poem is powerful as a result of its consistentlyhorrific atmosphere and tone, Graves poem changes tone from stanza to stanza,emulating the different stages of feeling a soldier experiences. The poem openswith a tone that is factual yet distant, as though an old tale were being toldAs when the morning traveller turns and views/His wild night-stumblingcarved into a hill. This tone emphasizes Graves description of dimlyremembered suffering which is fading into the distance: Entrance and exitwounds are silvered clean. The second stanza moves into a different tone,war is described as not only a war between countries, but a universal disasterNo mere discord of flags/ But an infection of the common sky. Thetone and atmosphere created are ominous, there is a feeling of anticipation andfear reminding the reader of soldiers waiting for battle: oppressed, thrust outBoastful tongue, clenched fist and valiant yard. Natural infirmities were out ofmode, For Death was young again The third stanza does not immediately changetone, however the feeling of fear increases as Graves dwells on thoughts ofpremature death and little on valiant yard. However, roughly halfway through the stanza the tone does change dramatically. The poem becomes notfearful but simple and clear, the necessities of life are described and the tonereminds the reader of an adrenaline filled soldier, thrilled with the battle andinstinct of survival, A weapon at the thigh, surgeons at call.. However, by the next stanza the battle is over and the experience of war assumesa hopeless guise. Everything good in the world has turned to ashesExtinction of each happy art and faith and the duty to fight turnsinto the duty to run mad. The tone of the poem is tragic, havingseen hope turn to fear, exhilaration and finally collapse. The powerful climaxof the poem in the fourth stanza is further emphasized in the last verse, as thetone returns to one of unreal memory. The poets voice is ironic with child-likenaivet?: Machine-guns rattle toy-like from a hill. The last lines of the poemchange in tone again as the poet describes a future of despair if the pastcannot be remembered with accuracy and acceptance: When learnedly the future wedevote To yet more boastful visions of despair. Both poets use a verydescriptive and revealing choice of vocabulary. One particular feature of Owenspoem is the use of alliteration to emphasize the image he is trying to create:Memory fingers in their hair of murders, Multitudinous murders The repetition ofthe m sound serves to increase the impact of the image, reminding the readerof a stammering, shell-shocked soldier. Thus their heads wear thishilarious, hideous is another example of alliteration. Owens choice ofwords such as slob, baring, swelters,hideous and flesh all help to increase the readershorror as theses words describe so well the nightmares the men are experiencing. Eygption pyramids EssayOwen maintains in his poem, that the mad men can and will never be able toforget the events they experienced in the war. Their scars will not becomesilvered clean, but remain unbearably painful. Graves poem beginsto examine the war that the men experienced throughout the second verse. Thestanza examines the build up and anticipation of battle, using a tone that is amixture of fear and anticipation. Graves uses pathetic fallacy, the weatherreflects the feelings of pressure and suppression that the soldiers experiencethe common sky/That sagged ominously upon the earth. This also givesthe impression that the soldiers do have to face not only the full might of theGerman army, but the strength of the elements too: Down pressed thesky. Graves then goes on to contrast the natural elements to the unnaturaldeath of the young men: Natural infirmities were out of mode, For Deathwas young again: Patron alone Of healthy dying, premature fate-spasm. This imageis particular ly effective as it personifies death, a device which brings deathcloser: the reader feels that death is approaching the waiting soldiers. Theenemy is no longer a distant storm, but an encroaching Patronlooking for his prey. This last line is also emotive of a dying person. Thecommas and hyphen give the line a jerky feel, like a spasm of death. The poetthen moves into the battle itself as the third stanza begins. This verse isparticularly interesting as it is full of images of antiqueness ofromance, images reminiscent of ancient tales of fighting men, concernedonly with wine, meat, log-fires, a roof over the head, an ancientchivalry and heroism. The men become purely physical beings, as your body issurely the primary concern on the battlefield and Our youth became allflesh and waived the mind.. The image conjures up pictures of youngsoldiers experiencing the adrenaline of danger, an emotion which leaves littletime to worry about the massacre which surrounds them, only swearing whenin lack of meat, wine, fire,/In ache of wounds beyond all surgeoning.The simple words Graves uses reflects the simple necessities and animal-likeinstincts the soldiers experience. The fourth stanza is the climax of the poem,the battle is over and the images are no longer simple and straight forward. Graves answers his question What, then, was war? with War wasfoundering of sublimities, Extinction of each happy art and faith. War hasdestroyed everything noble and impressive, everything that made life livable. After the physical exertion of the battle, Graves now presents the grimaftermath, where the mind begins to process the events it has just experienced. Graves presents an image of a fragile sanity which attempts to understand thewar Protesting logic or protesting love,. The stanza ends with theimage of a soldier finally breaking down under the weight of the immediatememories and his inability to reason the horrors he has witnessed: Until theunendurable moment struck- The inward scream, the duty to run mad. The lastverse of Graves poem returns to the ideas explored in the first stanza. Thepoets voice is ironic as he uses images from childhood to describe theterrifying war he displayed the previous verses. And we recall the merryways of guns-, the images make war sound child-like and unreal, the wordrecall reminds the reader of the poems title RecallingWar. It has the effect of almost silently posing the question, is thishow war should be recalled? The answer is of course evident having read theprevious stanzas, and the final lines of the poem just serve to confirm thereaders conclusions: When learnedly the future we devote To yet mor e boastfulvisions of despair This is a warning from Graves. He argues that our future willbe filled with the despair that his generation experienced if thehorror and brutalities are not remembered. Graves has used a wide variety ofimagery to create a complete picture of various stages that the soldierexperiences while at war, a powerful sequence of emotions that illustrate notonly the damage war does and the painful memories it creates, but the damagewhich can be done if these memories are forgotten or blurred. This contrastsdirectly with Owens poem that seeks to describe the damage done by war when itis not forgotten. Both poets discuss the scars that war leaves, both physicallyand mentally. Graves poem is very much a detached reflection on war, focusingon before, during and after effects of a battle in order to argue the point thatwar should not be forgotten. The immediate effect of war is very powerfullydescribed, but the long term scars are claimed to be forgettable andsilvered clean, a strong contrast with Owens view. Owens poemportrays the very personal effects war has, he describes people whom he has met. Indeed as a poet who spent some of the war in a mental institution for soldierscalled Craiglockhart, it is amazing that he is as detached as he is, consideringhe could well have been described as a mental case himself, as he sufferedfrom shell shock and nightmares.. Owens portrayal is gruesome and shocking,finally concluding by laying the responsibility for the madness at the feet ofthe reader and poet. This poem, not only demonstrates Owens view of the scarswar leaves on people, it also serves as a useful insight into the way in whichOwen was scarred by war. He clearly feels guilty at his survival, and he too ishaunted by the images of the dead that he describes, how else could they be sovivid? This is perhaps the most interesting aspect revealed by Owens poem, thescars left by war on a real human with the ability to express and communicatethe damage in such a way that the reader is not only shocked, but greatly moved. The poem has its intensity because Owen was writing it while in direct contactwith the mental cases whereas Graves is more distant as well as describing thememories of war. A poem which describes an inability to remember is far lessdisturbing than a poem which describes not being able to forget.