War poetry was a way for soldiers to display what life was like during war. Much of the poetry during times of war had to do with gruesome events that showcased true emotion felt by the audience. Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is a brutally honest World War I poem of what war is like on the battlefield. “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell is a creative World War II poem explaining the transitional life of a gunner on an American bomber aircraft during World War II. It is easy to compare these two war poems by briefly reading over them. At first glance, one would say that these two poems show the harsh reality of war. However, when compared to one another, these poems create a deeper meaning. The difference in style of the two texts support a similar theme, which is the significance of emotion on perception.

The tone used in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is one that is realistic. This poem demonstrates horrible visions of war through the first few lines. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks/ Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge” (Owen 1-2). The image Owen puts in the audience’s head of coughing and trudging through sludge sets the mood to that of sympathy for the soldiers.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime (lines 9-12)

The idea of being in so much pain that one feels as if they were on fire shows the true brutality of war. Although the tone is brutally realistic, the message of the poem is still the same, which is that emotion can play an important role on perception. In this case, the feeling of sympathy through brutality makes the audience question the role soldiers play in fighting for their country. 

The tone used in “The Death of the Ball Gunner” by Randall Jarrell is carefree. This poem demonstrates the horrors of war in a subdued manner. “I woke back flak and the nightmare fighter. / When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose” (Jarrell 4-5). The author showcases death as routine for a ball gunner. Instead of given a proper ceremony for their death in the war, ball gunners were washed out and replaced which shows the true reality of war. At first glance, the tone seems calm and subdue. While interpreting this poem, the audience gets a feeling of true brutality due to the routine process of replacing dead ball gunners. While the tone may be carefree and subdue, the message of the poem is still the same. Emotion plays an important role on the perception of war. In this case, the feeling of carelessness felt by the audience impacts the perception of what it means to fight for one’s country.

Tone can be inferred differently in both the poems being looked at. Not only is the tone described as brutally honest in “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, it is described as deceiving.

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori (lines 25-28)

In the poem, the author questions the very reason someone would fight for their country given the circumstances of war. While some individuals look for glory in fighting for their country, the author hints that this glory is nothing but a lie. While the tone is shown as a form of deception, the feeling of being lied to by the country makes the audience question the worth of fighting for one’s motherland.   

In Jarrell’s poem, “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”, the tone can also be described as sympathetic. 

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life

 I woke back flak and the nightmare fighter. (1-3)

The turret gunner is acting as a metaphor to that of an unborn child. The words used in the poem directly indicate that the positioning of the turret gunner in the plane is related to that of an unborn child in the stomach of the mother. This metaphor creates a great deal of sympathy the felt by the audience. The turret gunner has yet to experience all that life has to offer.  It feels as if the gunner is just being introduced to life, before it is being shot at, and eventually killed. This feeling of sympathy through the innocence of the turret gunner makes the audience perceive war differently.

Even though the way each poem is portrayed is very different, the message is still the same. Emotion is the driving factor that determines one’s perception on war. In the World War I recruitment poster, a soldier is seen walking along, with a clean, neat uniform and a smile on his face. The soldier is signaling the audience onward, and saying, “Let’s go!” (Britannica.com). The emotional connection demonstrated through this recruitment poster is significant. The audience sees a perfectly healthy man supporting his country. In response, the audience may feel that it is their duty to protect their country, and that if nothing was wrong with the soldier in the poster, nothing bad was going to happen to them. In this case, the feeling of bravery and enthusiasm the solider expresses give’s the audience a feeling of pride. These various different methods of recruitment were used during the World War’s as recruitment and as a way to block out the many poems and stories about the brutalities of war as expressed through Owen and Jarrell. Emotion plays a big role on the perception of war. In this case, the feeling of pride and duty felt by the audience makes them want to defend their country.

Poetry vastly changed the perception civilians had on the war. Many people uninvolved in the war had no idea what happened during these gruesome experiences as interpreted through Owen and Jarrell. The cluelessness of many is what drove these authors to write about the dark sides of war. Audiences, as well as young recruits, drew into the recruitment posters, with the idea that it was glorious to fight for one’s own country, due to the emotional ties these posters represented. However, it proved to be the opposite of glorious in most cases. “There are poems that have literally changed my life, because they have changed the way I looked and listened to the world” (Burnside). Burnside, like many, took into account the depth that these war poems demonstrated. Compared to the deceitful recruitment posters, these poems were more than a piece of paper with writing on it. They described with a great deal of emotion the true essence of war. Like the recruitment posters, these poems were read, and followed in depth due to the emotional connection that the audience has with the piece. The comparison of the two poems at hand, as well as the image of the recruitment poster, has nothing to do with what war is like. Instead, the bigger message found is the impact that emotion can have on one’s perception. This not only relates to wars, but to everyday life.  Although there is a difference in style of the sources, they all support the overall theme that emotion plays a significant role on perception.  
