The Use of Vocabulary in Dulce Et Decorum Est and The...

The Use of Vocabulary in Dulce Et Decorum Est and The Volunteer The Volunteer by Herbert Asquith and Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are two poems, which cast very different opinions on the Great War of 1914 - 1918. In The Volunteer Asquith has created an inspirational mood, one that indicates patriotism and optimism. However, Dulce Et Decorum Est contrasts The Volunteer, with its angry and bitter mood. One of the principal aspects that help to create the mood is the use of particular vocabulary. In The Volunteer, the vocabulary used is rather simple with words that reflect and familiarise with glorious pieces of English history. Nor need he any hearse to bear him hence, Who goes to join the men of†¦show more content†¦The message of The Volunteer is a positive one, it was Asquiths opinion that war is glorious and that it is right and proper to die for ones country. Dulce Et Decorum Est is very contradictory to The Volunteer. Dulce Et Decorum Est reflects Wilfred Owens opinion of war. It is a bitter, angry poem which emphasises its message, that war is pointless and horrible and to undergo such a situation for ones country is absurd. The vocabulary that Owen uses creates this mood. Dulce Et Decorum Est uses words which scare the reader and put them off the idea of war. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, These two similes are the opening two lines of the poem. They set the negative, bitter mood straight away. The words cursed and sludge set the scene, negative words creating a dull and depressing scene. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. These two metaphors describe the conditions of the Great War. Owen wrote this poem to warn the young men back home of the conditions to discourage them from signing up. This excert displays a taste of the conditions of