Poetic Irony

1. Poetic Irony Stephen Crane & Wilfred Owen

2. They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. • Ernest Hemmingway

3. The Forms of Irony • Verbal Irony- the surface meaning if what one writes or is the opposite of the intended. Similar to sarcasm or being sardonic • Irony of the Situation- An event that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, reader, or the audience. Events in the story turn out to what is expected or appropriate • Dramatic Irony- occurs when the reader or viewer know more about the actual situation than the characters do.

4. Things to Notice as We Read • The authors’ view on the merit of war • The difference between the speaker and the intended audience • The number of alliterations and similes • Question how and when the author uses the above literary mechanisms • Note the difference the authors’ use of graphic detail about the deaths of soldiers

5. War is Kind Stephen Crane

6. Note the ironic difference between the end of the stanzas: “War is kind” or “A field where a thousand corpses lie” • The target audience are each lovers of the soldiers; those whose who would most likely miss the person (maiden, babe, mother) • “Unexplained glory”, “Great is the battle god… and his kingdom a field where a thousand corpses lie” “ Men born to drill and die” • Sarcasm- “The splendid shroud”

7. Importance of colors- Red and gold- archetype of wealth and blood • Point for them the virtue of slaughter, Make plain to them the excellence of killing • Crane begs to know the purpose of war, the “Virtue of slaughter”

8. Dulce et Decorum Est

9. Poetic Terminology • Couplet- a grouping of two lines • Quatrain- a grouping of four lines • Sestet- A grouping of six lines • Octave- A grouping of eight lines • Iambic Pentameter- lines of poetry that contain ten syllables, alternating from stressed to unstressed • Blank Verse- an poem with no set rhyme scheme, line length, punctuation, or meter • Irony- a phrase that is meant to mean the opposite of its literal translation • Alliteration- a repetition of consonants at the beginning of words in a line (ex. Before beef bends) • Assonance- a repetition of vowel sounds in a line (He sees bees) • Consonance- a repetition of consonant sounds in a line (Rant, Punt, Scant) • Tone- A writer’s attitude toward their subject, characters or audience. It can be humorous, condescending, praising, etc. • Mood- Or atmosphere, I the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. Elements that can influence the mood of a work include its setting, tone, and events. Mood is expressed in emotive terms.

10. DULCE ET DECORUM EST1 By Wilfred Owen • Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,  Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,  Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs  And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.  Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots  But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;  Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4 Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind. • Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! –  An ecstasy of fumbling,  Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;  But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,  And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .  Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,  As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,  He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning. • If in some smothering dreams you too could pace  Behind the wagon that we flung him in,  And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,  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,  Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12 Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,  My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13 To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,  The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum estPro patria mori.15

11. The poem operates on an ABAB rhyme scheme • “Pro Patria Mori” = to die for one’s country • The first two stanzas are divided into octaves • Note the number of alliterations (repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words) and similes • First person P.O.V. gives the poem the realistic feel of a memory • Written in loose iambic pentameter- 10 syllable lines • Irony of the title in the context of the poem

12. In contrast to Crane, Owens does not attempt to make a direct statement about war until the end. • Instead, he provides the gory details of the miserable life and horrible death of a soldier. • Every simile in the poem emphasizes the brutality of war.

13. Poetic Themes Discussion • Why do you think the Latin phrase is broken in two? • Note the detail put into the violence in this poem- Why put so much gore into a poem? • How does the use of first person-point of view effect the poem?

14. DULCE ET DECORUM EST1 By Wilfred Owen • Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,AKnock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,  B Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs  A And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.  B Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots  C But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;  D Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4  C Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind. D • Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! –  An ecstasy of fumbling,  E Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;  F But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,  E And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .  F Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,  G As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. H In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,  G He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning. H • If in some smothering dreams you too could pace  IBehind the wagon that we flung him in,  J And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,  I His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;  J If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood  K Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,  L Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12  K Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,  L My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13  M To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,  N The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est  M Pro patria mori.15 N

15. Your Assignment • You will write a poem entitled “_____ is kind.” • It should be one octave • It should contain one simile and one alliteration • Make the poem descriptive, but sarcastic • ABAB rhyme scheme

16. It is taken as a common jest • Whose results are often gory • The old sell, Dulce et Decorum est • Pro patria mori

17. The beats fall to whispers in your chest • And close an abbreviated story • No co