In both Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle-Hymn of the Republic” and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” each poet arms themselves with certain devices to create emotional tones that drive how they feel about war. For Howe, war seems to be glorious and good. For Owen, it is clearly undignified and evil. The emotional tone set by Howe’s “Battle-Hymn of the Republic” is safe and content, whereas the emotional tone of Owen’s “Dolce et Decorum Est” is chaotic and unsettling. Both poets use alliteration, meter, and rhyme in nearly opposite ways to strike at the heart of the reader and convey how they feel about war.
Julia Ward Howe uses alliteration to reinforce her belief that war is a positive and glorious endeavor. She uses alliteration in a calm, almost soothing way as she speaks of the soldiers who have built God an altar in the evening “dews and damps” (6). There is a softness to the consonants of the alliteration, and it flows with the rest of the line before it. This creates a lulling tone and produces a feeling that everything is going to be okay. It instills a peaceful, even joyful tone. Owen, however, uses alliteration to reinforce his view that war is an ugly, cruel experience. Owen practically assault us with his words as soldiers are described as “coughing like hags” who “cursed through sludge” (2). His use of harsh sounding consonants in his alliterations produce an agitated, anxious emotional tone. Referring to God’s power to defeat enemies, Howe writes, “He hath loosed the fatal lightning of his terrible swift sword” (3). Again, the sound of the alliteration with the softer consonants combined with the way they are smoothly woven through the sentence has the effect of making the line flow in a nice, clean, predictable way. This further creates the tone of contentment and joy that supports Howe’s view everything is going as planned, and we are safe from our enemies. Conversely, Owen chooses to smash his alliterations together to produce a much more chaotic, intense feeling such as when he describes the soldiers as being “Knock-kneed” (2), and how “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots” (5). In line 17 Owen writes, “If in some smothering dreams you too could pace,” and again uses the placement of the alliteration in the sentence in a way that it has a jarring, alarming feeling versus the flowing, predictable feeling that Howe’s alliterations produce.
The meter and rhyme scheme of each of the poems also creates a dramatically different emotional effect. Howe’s poem has a highly organized rhyme scheme (AAAB, CCCB, DDDB, and so on) that is predictable, neat, and tidy. This produces an emotional tone that has the reader feel content and safe. It conveys a feeling of confidence that the battle is the right thing to do, and all is well in the universe. Moreover, there is a consistent hymn meter throughout every stanza from beginning to the end. In each stanza, there are 15 beats in each line and 6 in the last line. Just like the rhyming structure, this meter produces the emotional tone of safety and comfort, instilling a joyful confidence in the reader that everything is as it should be. Howe’s use of meter and rhyme underlines her feeling that war is a glorious and orderly endeavor, a reason for our hearts to be filled with pride and the idea that the violence of war is good and right.
In Owen’s poem, on the other hand, the rhyme and meter create an entirely different emotional response. It is neither predictable nor tidy. His rhyming seems to follow a standard poetic scheme (ABAB, CDCD). Then, in the middle of the poem, he separates the last CD line of the stanza, “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning” (15-16), and has the line stand alone, causing the reader to disconnect the rhyming words from the rest of the stanza, producing a feeling of chaos and confusion. In the end of the poem, Owen breaks from the ABAB, CDCD rhyme structure by adding an additional EFEF set of lines. This, again, produces a slight sense of confusion, even anxiety in the reader as our minds buck against the need for the kind order and consistency that Howe’s poem provides. Owen uses meter to further emphasize the emotions of chaos and unpredictability he wishes to convey. The poem seems to follow a pentameter beat; however, in the middle of the poem, he breaks the rhythm completely when he writes, “Gas! Gas! Quick boys!” (9). This has the emotional effect of a sounding alarm, grabbing the reader’s attention and producing feelings of danger, chaos, and fear. In the end of the poem, the meter turns into something completely different when Owen writes, “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori” (27-28). It breaks so completely with the rest of the poem that it produces the emotional effect on the reader of being unsettled, confused, as if a rug was pulled out from under them. Owen’s use of meter and rhyme underscores his feeling that war is not what you think it is in the myths of culture, that there is no order or sanity in war. In any moment, chaos, death, and terror can come rushing in.
In the end, it is obvious both poets have a mastery over the use of poetic devices such as alliteration, rhyme, and meter to produce specific emotional tones for their readers to propel their views. For Howe, that tone was one of order and contentment to forward her belief that war is dignified and holy. For Owen, the tone was one of chaos and terror to make clear his belief that war is undignified and sick. However, the fact that these same tools were used to create such different, diametrically opposed views on the same subject points to the power of poetic devices to affect our emotions, and possibly our actions, even when it comes to something as significant and impactful as war.
Works Cited
Howe, Julia Ward. “Battle-Hymn of the Republic.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 February 2016.
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 February 2016.
