War poets - Style and themes

War poets

The war poets treated a “modern poetry” because their way of writing did not follow the 19th century poetic conventions. In particular they deal with their personal feelings, state of minds, experience of the First World War. We can distinguish two different reaction s to the war: One is presented by Rupert Brooke, who describes his experience in a lyric way, using a softly and romantic language. He is animated by a patriotic enthusiasm and see the war as a good instrument for cleaning the world by evil and to resolve problems. Besides he believes that the real suffering could hit only the body because his love for his country was stronger than any other pain. Wilfred Owen instead describes his experience in the trenches in a very realistic way, using a crude and a specific language, showing all the horrors and the physical effects of the war on the men. In particular he wants to give a sense of gravity to the whole situation and denounce the false good appearance that the war could transmit.