Over the past few months I have been studying a range of poems. Many poets describe the people in their poems as heroes, noble men and courageous. For many people war dramatically changed their lives forever. Some of the poems that I studied were Dulce et Decorum Est, Mental Cases by Wilfred Owen. Also studied were Song of a German Mother by Bertolt Brecht and The Charge of The Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson. These are the four poems I will be referring to in this piece of coursework. Nineteenth century poems such as 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' show that old common view of war, that war is noble and honourable to take part in. Once war was declared there was a huge increase in volunteers who wanted to fight for their country. Over two million people volunteered to fight. As the war progressed the poetry became increasingly bitter. Poets became determined to show the truth of what went on at the front line. They wanted to stop people believing the false images that were produced during this awful time.
             The "Dulce et Decorum est" was written by the poet Wilfred Owen. Owen wrote this anti-war poem, describing a very common and minor event in World War one, where a fellow soldier dies right next to him, drowning in mustard gas. He entered the war in October 1915 and fought as an officer in the Battle of Somme in 1916 but was hospitalised for shell shock in May 1917. His poems are submerged with the horror of battle. In the first two lines of Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen uses simile to describe the conditions of the soldiers
             "Bent double like old beggars" and "coughing like old hags".
             The word "hag" explains how unhealthy and sick the soldiers were.
             This personification describes how Owen is trying to explain how war will all haunt them forever.
             "Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on bloodshed".
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