Misleading and a lie..

Excuse what may be my lack of patriotism but I agree that the phrase “It is sweet and proper to die for one’s country” is a lie. Obviously it is incredibly loyal to die for one’s country but I have a hard time identifying the word “sweet” with dying under any circumstance. Owen provides vivid and horrid descriptions in his poem that allow his readers to see exactly why it is not “sweet” or “proper” to die for one’s country. For example, he informs us of precisely what soldiers go through with lines such as “But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots.” Also, Owen paints a frightening picture for his audience when he describes how one soldier did not get his helmet on in time for the gas and therefore suffered a horrible death. Moreover, those words are a lie because Pope’s poems seem to be very misleading to me. For instance, in “Who’s for the Game?” she writes “Who would much rather come back with a crutch than lie low and be out of the fun? Come along, lads.” Young men who read that poem obviously got the impression that the war wasn’t that bad and they would most likely return with minor injuries when the truth is that many soldiers didn’t return home at all. I think it’s appropriate how Owen basically tells Pope, in the end of his poem, that if she really knew what went on during the war then she would not be encouraging others to enlist. Ultimately, Owen’s poem could definitely be considered an anti-war poem since he disapproves of Pope encouraging young men to enlist and he even coins the war “some desperate glory” in line 26 of “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” Next, Sassoon’s works “They” and “Glory of Women” could be considered anti-war poems. I say this not only because his opinions are evident in his work but also because his biographical sketch tells of how his views changed on war after an injury. Not to mention, he wrote a letter to his commanding officer stating “I believe that the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.” Lastly, the final two lines in “Glory of Women” which state “While you are knitting socks to send your son his face is trodden deeper in the mud” allow me to see why this could be considered an anti-war poem.