ENG LIT DISCUSSION

IN BED WITH OWENS/YEATS NEED DISCUSSION RESPONSES TO 5 POSTS

· WEEK: Modern Lit and Society

· 1. Violence in Poetry GM225

The theme of violence in the poetry of Yeats and Owen were brought on by WWI. Yeats, from Ireland had the perspective of an Irishmen going through the Irish revolts and the Easter Uprising. His poem "Easter, 1916" was written about the Easter Uprising that happened because the British promised the Irish that they would let them rule over their country, Ireland in 1914. When WWI broke out, the English put that promise on the back burner, which enraged the Irish. Many that participated in the uprising, especially it's leaders were executed. Yeats, knowing many of them, was troubled by it. 

"We know their dream; enough To know they dreamed and are dead;"

Lines 70-71, Yeats states that they had a dream, of the Irish becoming free, yet that dream is ultimately why they are now dead.

Owen was British and wrote much about WWI and the devastation it brought. His poems give a powerful image as to what the soldiers went through in the war. The opening line of "Anthem of Doomed Youth":

"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?"

Gives a horrible image that the soldiers that were going off to war were like a herd of cattle heading to be slaughtered. In lines 21-24 of Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen gave another horrible image. 

"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–"

This gives a chilling description of what war is/was like for soldiers. Even the ones that survive had/have to deal with the memories of what they saw, which is what Owen described in this poem.

These poets could not escape the theme of violence in their lives and so it came through in their works.

· 2. Yeats & Owens VT225

               Yeats and Wilfred Owen were poets in the early 1900’s, who were very much influence by war. Owen’s writing shows a want to depict the actual experience of battle to people, but Yeats was a little condescending towards Owen’s want. Yeats felt that poetry should be used as an escape from such a bloody hell. He was also very involved with the politics of the time. Yeats used some of his poems to make political statements such as September 1913, in which he criticized and mocked the Irish Catholic middle-classes, calling them incapable of rising up and revolting, and Eater 1916, in which recants the ridicule from his previous poem.

Although Yeats speaks of things in a slightly violent way from poem to poem, Owen’s work his almost entirely dedicated to trying to depict his own experiences. When analyzing Wilfred Owen’s poems such as, Anthem for Doomed Youth or Strange Meeting, you will notice that his works are quite graphic in its depictions of the battlefields. This tendency to write about battle and war seems to come from influences of World War I. Strange Meeting,however violent it may seem, is a very interesting perspective on soldiers in battle.

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· 3. Yeats and Owens BT225

The violence shown in Yeats’ poetry is mainly due to war, politics and sexuality. In “The Second Coming”, it appears that the mind of the poet is a bit gloomy. Such is due to the consequence of the civil war in Ireland, which occurred during the Easter Rebellion, along with other events. In another Yeats’ poem, ‘Easter 1916’, the speaker quarrels with himself and with history.

In Owen’s poetry, we are also shown violence. Owen’s poetry is filled with warfare themes, which is the major contribution of such violence in the poems. Specifically, “Strange Meeting” is congested with soldiers and the distress they continue to endure, even following death. The speaker may have escaped battle, but he has entered “hell”. In this poem “hell” is a location where the distresses of war are replayed over and over. Unfortunately, there is no escape from this violence.

· 4. Violence: Yeats & Owens DW224

Yeats and Owens poems dealt with the effects of war and tackled the issues in different methods. Their poems were a depiction of the spoils of war and its effect on society.   

Yeats enjoyed mysticism and the occult, which explains the violence described in his poetry.  He was an eccentric pessimist who always expected something bad to happen, as expressed in the poem, “The Second Coming”. His one abnormal issue is an attachment to war and violence of a system out of control.  As you read through the poem, you may notice that even in today’s world, humanity is losing touch with nature and has to deal with the consequences.  This sentiment is echoed in its apocalyptic theme of constant torment of violence.

On the other hand, Owen critiqued the soldiers experience with his poetry and mimicked the literary works of other authors of the early nineteenth century.  The sentimental writing style and attitudes toward the brutality of war depicts Owens views of a man sensitive to the burden of soldiery.  It is important to note that Owen’s poetry is recognized as being a direct reflection of the truth regarding military combat.  This type of demise clearly can be seen in the poem, “Anthem, For Doomed Youth”.

· 5. Violence in Yeats and Owen CJ224

“When I excluded Wilfred Owen, whom I consider unworthy of the poets' corner of a country newspaper, I did not know I was excluding a revered sandwich board man of the revolution…He is all blood, dirt and sucked sugar stick.” – Yeats

Though both Yeats and Owen wrote extensively of the personal and socioeconomic ills befallen to a group of people within a world war, they both attacked this issue in vastly different ways. Upon reading Yeats, one comes away with a feeling of trepidation on his part. Poems such as “No Second Troy” and “Easter, 1916” display feelings of doubt surrounding the use of violence to spread an idea. In “No Second Troy” he speaks of a woman that broke his heart that he has now forgiven, but is still critical of her revolutionary sentiments. In “Easter, 1916” Yeats describes the Easter uprising, reminiscing on the lives lost and ending the poem asking the question “was it worth it?”

Owen, on the other hand, was a little more headstrong and heavy-handed in his critique of violence (one that Yeats rejected and belittled). In his apocalyptic “The Second Coming,” he paints a picture of utter destruction and upheaval caused by the war. This destruction is universal, as he believes that the entire "centre cannot hold” (3). Owen also rejects wartime violence in his poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth” – he describes men dying “as cattle” (1), and goes into detail, painting a picture of the mortality and meaningless of a soldier’s life. For Owen, in wartime, a dying man’s goodbye is not prayers or bells, but a distraught wife back home drawing down the blinds.

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