Stafford and Owen on War in Poetry

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy. William Stafford and Wilfred Owen are two poets who would undoubtedly concur with this statement. Both poets are objectors to war. However, the way each one conveys his message is different. The tone, descriptions, and literary devices used in each work are rather opposite. The main reason for this is the author's life experiences. Stafford did …

…This would explain his inability to be like Stafford, and compare war to nature. If one experiences something so terrible, no need exists to compare and contrast; just the bare and brutal facts are necessary. These are two poems, so different, sharing the same idea, but all reflecting the poets' lives. Works Cited Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." An Introduction to Poetry. Tenth Edition. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 2002. 46-47.