The poems done by Brooke and Owen contrast a lot and the messages they contain are completely the opposite. With Brooke's poem supporting fighting for your country and being very patriotic and Owen's poem talking about what's the point in fighting. Both poems are set in the First World War with Owen writing from the Allied trenches and Brooke writing from behind the lines as he was a general.
First of all the themes of both poems are very different with Brooke going on about how you should give up your life for England and if you die England will become victorious. All the time his phrases such as "in hearts art peace" contrast to what it was really like in the war. Whereas Futility by Owen is about a dead body slowly decaying showing the relationships between man and nature. He explains how life took a vast amount of time to evolve into what we are today and that all that time is wasted in war which implies why bother?
There is a lot of Personification in both poems starting with Owens where he personifies the sun. He talks about the sun being the creator of everything and how the relationship between man and sun as "gently its touch" used to wake up the soldier shows the friendship and positives of the poem. Some of the language used in this poem is in Latin with the words "fatuous" and "futility" which both add emphasis to the original effect they had on the poem. Also biblical references with the use of "clays" to show that he believes that the sun is the creator and ruler of the world. Moving onto Brooke's poem he personifies England, talking about "her" like a mother looking after all the population. He says that if England "bore" all the people than you should give something back by fighting for her. The use of alliteration such as "foreign fields" adds a flowing, enjambment style to the stanza as the "flowers" of England make it sound more natural and divine.
The mood and atmospheres of both the poems contrast quite a bit, with the basis of Owens's poem being pretty sombre like the title "Futility" which means utterly worthless. Phrases such as "if anything might rouse him now" shows the desperation and depressing mood of this poem. Brooke's poem on the other hand is uplifting and gives a strong patriotic feeling to all the readers. He uses the conditional tenses "if I should die" which gives us the image of him dreaming or fantasizing about the war and what a magnificent honor it is to be able to die for your country. He uses language of religious sounds with everyone "blest" by suns of home, "Washed" by the rivers which is the language you would hear at a baptism signifying a new beginning, a new start or chance.
Both poems are sonnets with Brooke's poem being of a classic iambic pentameter structure, Brooke's also has a rhyming scheme with ten syllables per line whereas Owen's is a sort of half rhyme with no obvious shape or structure to the poem. There is evidence of some flowing enjambment in Brookes poem as "some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England" as the alliteration adds to the sense of movement and rhythm. In Owens Poem there is a sort of groan in the poem as "-O what made fatuous sunbeams toil" sounds as if he is suddenly letting out an explosion of pain.
Brooke's poem was written from behind the lines during the Second World War like Owen's poem which was written in the front lines of the trenches.
In Owen's poem it is written in first person with a sort of philosophical second stanza and a descriptive first stanza. Brooke tells us about his love for England and how it has given you life that you should give something back "a dust whom England bore" backs up this information. Owen is angry about war which showed in both Futility and Dulce et Decorum est.
To conclude there are many main points to compare and contrast, there is the patriotic poem by Brooke which keeps repeating England and how it is great to give up your life for England as "she" has given you health and prosperity. However I prefer the more sombre poem by Owen which shows us the real truth about the war as he personally fought in the trenches with his friends and he had seen them die. He would have the horrific true perspective of the war. The Language he uses is so powerful like in Dulce et Decorum est and is also philosophical and full of wonder like Futility and that is why I had to pick this poem.
