Pity of War

Wilfred Owen describes his poetry as conveying the pity of war. In what ways does Owen explore this topic in his poetry? Refer to at least two poems in your answer.


People always say that “All is fair in love and war”. However, I totally disagree with this statement. This is because, looking at the word, WAR, my first opinion about war is that it means, worry, agony and when all is destroyed, only ruins are left. War is something which not only affects the people involved in it but whoever who is in some particular way related to the victim. Wilfred Owen describes his poetry as depicting the pity of war. Although many of his poems contain this essence of pitiness, I think that “Disabled” and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” are two ballads which strongly demostrate the idea of pitiness.

Looking first at “Disabled”, we can clearly see how Wilfred Owen conveys the pity of war. By first concentrating on the title itself, we realise that “disabled” means to depr...