Death: Flowers and Bomb Shells

Death is something that every person will have to deal with at some point in his or her life. The poems "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" both deal with the concept of death, but in very different ways. They provide views of what death can be like from opposite ends of the proverbial spectrum. Death can be a very hard thing to experience, and the emotions that it evokes can be difficult to express as well. These two poems both express a feeling of loss through death, but the tones perceived by the reader in each are completely unalike.

The setting of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a battlefield during wartime, and tells of the main characters, the soldiers, fighting for their lives. The author, Wilfred Owen, was a soldier himself, who died in the war, which is one reason that this poem has such a personal tone about it. It relates directly to human experience. The reader cannot help but wonder if Owen experienced the horrors that he recounts in this poem. Owen also uses many personal pronouns, like "you" and "I" repeatedly as if to remind the reader war is a real thing and that they could easily be in the same situation. Line twenty-one reads, "If you could hear, at every jolt" followed by line twenty-five, "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest". The use of the word "you" and even "my friend" makes both of these lines very personal, as if Owen is speaking directly to the reader.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" also has a personal sense to it, but the author of this poem, Robert Frost, does not try to make the same connection with his readers. Allegory is put to use in this poem with the case of nature. Instead of using personal pronouns to draw the reader into the story as Owen does, Frost uses them to personify nature, always referring to it as "her". The opening lines of the poem say, "Nature's first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold". This is a common occurrence in writing, especially when dealing with nature. By personifying nature as a woman, rather than just an object, the reader is able to connect more with that character. This is because it is easier for humans to relate to another person than it is for them to relate to an object, even if only on paper.

The tone of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is also affected greatly by the many harsh adjectives used to describe the scene on the battlefield. Many of these adjectives, such as haunting, stumbling, drowning, and smothering, are intensely graphic. These are words that everyone knows of, but does not necessarily experience in day-to-day life. Because these words are so striking they create a very vivid image in the mind of the reader. The power of these adjectives is so strong that it almost makes me feel uncomfortable while reading. This is because these adjectives describe actions that are considered extreme and even threatening. I would not want to put myself, or anyone that I know, into a situation that could be described using these adjectives. The subject of war and fighting can be a touchy one, which is why this poem really stands out. It goes beyond the reader's comfort level, forcing them to come to terms with the reality of fighting. While this approach may seem harsh at first, it is ultimately a very effective way for the author to get his or her point across. Sometimes it takes the unforgiving truth to make the desired impact.

The severe adjectives in "Dulce et Decorum Est" give a very harsh tone to the poem, despite the upbeat rhyme that appears on the end of every-other line. When I read this poem aloud it seemed to flow fairly easily and ended with a little "pop" at the end of each line. The optimistic rhyme scheme almost takes away some of the reality of the poem and can be distracting from the realities of war that Owen wants the reader to face. Rhyme is present in "Nothing Gold Can Stay" also, but in a much different way. Every two lines rhyme instead of every-other line, which does not create as much of a bounce. While it keeps the poem flowing, it also helps to keep the tone calm and relaxed. It does not divert the reader from the true meaning of the poem; it only adds to it.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" has an entirely different tone about it, which is almost peaceful. It creates an image nowhere near that of the previous poem. The theme of this poem deals mainly with nature, so throughout Frost uses elements that occur naturally, such as flowers and leaves. Things like this give the reader a beautiful image when they read, like in line five, "Her early leaf's a flower". When reading this line I automatically picture in my mind a beautiful flower, budding on a small bush. It is a beautiful image that is created by the tone I receive from the poem. While the tone of this poem is much softer than that of "Dulce et Decorum Est", Frost does not speak only of beauty. He uses beauty to create the tone of the poem, but at the same time reminds us that all good things must come to an end. The poem is ultimately about death, which is brought to the reader's attention in a few different lines, especially at the end of the poem. Frost writes, "Then leaf subsides to leaf / So Eden sank to grief / So dawn goes down to day / Nothing gold can stay". These lines speak of the deterioration of a leaf, which is the most obvious presentation of death. The last line, however, is a little more in-depth. The phrase, "Nothing gold can stay" means that, like the beauties of dawn, the beautiful things in life disappear or evolve in to something else. A human life is comparable to this