Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum est" and Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" are poems by poets who fought in WWI. Both poems delve into the mindset of the time period and can tie into many ideas and thoughts people had about the war. Ideas such as, dying for one's country being the ultimate form of courage, and an excited attitude about going off to fight were present in many earlier works.  The two poems, however similar in subject matter, are different in the messages that both portray. The two themes are contradicting each other in the way that Owen is taking a pretty bold anti-war stance, and Brooke is bolstering the idea that war is a glorious quite noble thing to do. Coming from Owen the argument holds a higher appeal as he was a commander injured in battle and upon his return died leading troops. Brooke, having seen little to no action, served for only a short while before getting blood poisoning from a mosquito bite. Also after researching the year each work was written one can see a correlation between a more positive message and an earlier year. Looking at these facts one can connect how the writing style and message portrayed from the poet may have been effected by by their individual military experience and the time of the war.

The only real similarity between the two aforementioned poems is the fact that they are on the subject of WWI. Reading Owen's poem, "Dulce et decorum est", one can see throughout the reading a grisly scene being painted by Owen. The opening line, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge" (lines 1-2). The tone of the poem immediately starts off as very dreary and unhappy. These men who are bent over like beggars are not the particular war hero that was idolized at the time. They appear tired of it all and are simply surviving the Great War. This comes in contrast with Brooke and his poem, "The Soldier". The first couple of lines go as follows, "If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England" (lines 1-3). Coming in direct contrast with the message Owen is trying to make evident, Brooke writes about dying in war as a noble, high honor act in hopes of rousing the youth or whoever is reading his works to consider joining and fighting. Looking at another line from Owen, "In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking drowning" (lines 15-16). This line is particularly moving because it shows first hand experience, and it describes in great detail death by gas, which was a particularly popular method of killing in this war and was a horrible thing to experience. Looking at Brooke again, one can see a complete opposite message taking place. "A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home" (Lines 7-8). This line is interesting in the sense that it sounds as it is encouraging young men to die as the will be "blest by the suns of home" and washed by the rivers of the home land. This creates the illusion that it is all fine, dandy, and an honor to fall for one's country in battle. Now taking Owen's account, in his poem he says, "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs" (20-22). This account of a man dying from a gas attack does well to counter the glorious image of death in battle by describing how this man actually drowned in his own fluids from this weapon. The phrase, "A face like a devil's sick of sin" ultimately shows the horror and hell that is actually found in war. This can also tie to Owen's military service and what all he did in the Great War. Owen was a commander in the English army, he was injured first, took leave, returned, and was killed while leading men on a charge. Comparing this with Brooke's short tenure in the Navy it's easy to see why Brooke writes with the message he does. Owen, having seen the actual horrors of war writes in a way that he would want no one to join, or essentially be tricked by the "Old Lie" (Line 28). 

The year each work was written is also a crucial element to the different themes found in each. Brooke's poem, "The Soldier" was written in 1914, which would coincide with the outbreak of war. Generally, at any outbreak of war, one will feel obligated to hold a high sense of nationalism. So naturally it would make a good deal of sense to write about a war with a sense of honor about it before the experience of a gas attack or mortar shower is felt. This can be seen by Owen in his poem "Dulce et Decorum est". Written in 1918, the close of the War, the idea behind this work is a stark comparison to the works of the pre-war buzz. The last lines from Owen's poem are, "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" (26-28). This line is particularly important because it decries a saying that has been in use since Roman times. Also it is a direct contradiction to the works of Brooke, and Pope and his poem "The Call", and it is believed that Owen wrote his poem in response to Pope. 

 Called the War to end all Wars, WWI would be followed by WWII relatively shortly after its end. However, the lasting legacy of the war changed the landscape and ideology behind war forever. The Great War was especially gruesome with all of the advancements made in the art of killing. Mustard gas, increasingly powerful explosives, the machine gun, and airplanes created a totally new battlefield. Along with these new toys came a new kind of death toll and it was staggeringly high. Along with this war also came new forms of expression, and new forms of art and literature would come from it. By taking a look at the messages of poems from Wilfred Owen, and Rupert Brooke one can clearly see how their differing messages would come about from a difference in years written, and individual military experience. 

