How Did Pope Encourage Young Men Go To War

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When World War One broke out, hardly anyone knew what war was like. Some poets were commissioned to write poetry to encourage young men to go to war, such as Jessie Pope. Other poets who had been to war, including Wilfred Owen, were horrified to see that people were tricking young men to go to war. Owen Wilson Dulce Et Decorum Est. as a reply to Pope’s poem The Call to expose the tragic truth about war. Both Pope and Wilson used many language features to reinforce their ideas in the poem. Jessie Pope wrote The Call with a very clear perspective on the war and an important idea to share. She used many interesting language features to reinforce the idea that war is a fun adventure and that it is right to fight for your country, and if you do…show more content…
He felt appalled that people were getting paid to lie and trick young men into going to war. Owen used many interesting language features to reinforce his ideas in the poem. He wanted people to understand that war is not fun and it is not an adventure and that it is a place where young men go to die. His use of emotive language, sarcasm and direct address were all important language features that reinforced his ideas in the poem. The techniques were all apparent when he said “If you could hear... My friend you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory...” Wilson’s use of direct address when using the word ‘you’ in the poem was directed at Pope. He did this to accuse her by saying that she tricked ‘children’ into into going to war by making them think that it was an adventure. This feature was interesting. It made the poem more passionate because Pope did something that Owen felt very strongly against and he wanted to express how this impacted him. He also said “My friend” sarcastically which was aimed at Pope as well.This let the reader, and Pope, understand that he despised her for writing the poem that she did because it caused so many people harm. Furthermore, his use of emotive language was a very important language feature in his poem which reinforced the idea that war is a place where young men go to die. Owen’s use of the word ‘children’ apposed to young men was meant to make the reader understand that most of the young men who were underage because they were excited to go on an adventure that she advertised and persuaded them into doing. The word also makes the audience feel pity and sadness towards the war. The word ‘children’ has strong connotations and makes the reader think of innocence and vulnerability. making the reader feel as though they have to protect them and look after them
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