In both of these poems, we see the discussion of grief and loss. On one hand, Greater Love talks about the loss of soldiers and brothers-in-arms, but in Before The Mirror, we see one man grieving about the loss of his sister. Both of these are very poignant forms of grief, but they are shown in very similar ways.
The first stanza of Greater Love mirrors the first stanza of Before The Mirror, in that it talks about how an object is not as colourful as it would normally be. Before the Mirror takes a darker, more mournful tone about it, which is shown through majorly dark and tense diction, including words such as 'grief' and 'fright'. There is also a lot of cold diction, which I believe relates to the emotions of the speaker in Before The Mirror, which seems to be about a man who has lost his sister. This is again shown through the use of words such as 'wind, weary and snow', which helps to create the image of a bleak winter, which is typically the season of mourning.
This once again contrasts Greater Love, which glorifies the deaths of the soldiers, and makes it seem as if they died doing what they felt was right. The soldiers are shown as 'fierce', and 'pure', which are honorifics that typically make somebody seem as if they are heroes. Greater Love shows death in a completely different light than Before The Mirror. Greater Love glorifies it, while Before The Mirror mourns it.
One difference is that there is two completely different reasons for the deaths, which might also lead to the differences in emotions towards the fallen. In Before The Mirror, the death seems to be natural, and the speaker is shown as being completely distraught, while in Greater Love, the deaths are in battle, which seems to help glorify the deaths and make the soldiers seem that much more heroic.
The language used to describe death itself in the poems in rather similar as well, and you can sense that Owen took some inspiration from Swinburne. For example, both poems use words such as 'forbidden' and 'harsh', to show the affects of death on love, which shows the feelings that both poems have towards the subject.
My classmate Georgia mentions that Greater Love is a mockery of Before The Mirror, which I completly disagree with. I believe that Greater Love is a hommage to Before The Mirror, and that Owen is expressing his love for that poem in parodying it in this. Owen supposedly had a great love of poetry, and so it is easy to understand why he would reference a favourite poem in his, as mimicry is the ultimate form of flattery.
One final thing about the poems is the themes. In Before The Mirror, we see one mans reflections on the death of one person very important to him. He mourns that one person and feels awful about how it is affecting him. This is mirrored in Greater Love, on a macro scale. In Greater Love, Owen is commenting on the massive scale of love that is talked about in Greater Love, which mentions that generality of love felt for soldiers by the people fighting at home. This talks about the almost nationalistic feeling of pride that people have towards the men fighting for their countries.
The first stanza of Greater Love mirrors the first stanza of Before The Mirror, in that it talks about how an object is not as colourful as it would normally be. Before the Mirror takes a darker, more mournful tone about it, which is shown through majorly dark and tense diction, including words such as 'grief' and 'fright'. There is also a lot of cold diction, which I believe relates to the emotions of the speaker in Before The Mirror, which seems to be about a man who has lost his sister. This is again shown through the use of words such as 'wind, weary and snow', which helps to create the image of a bleak winter, which is typically the season of mourning.
This once again contrasts Greater Love, which glorifies the deaths of the soldiers, and makes it seem as if they died doing what they felt was right. The soldiers are shown as 'fierce', and 'pure', which are honorifics that typically make somebody seem as if they are heroes. Greater Love shows death in a completely different light than Before The Mirror. Greater Love glorifies it, while Before The Mirror mourns it.
One difference is that there is two completely different reasons for the deaths, which might also lead to the differences in emotions towards the fallen. In Before The Mirror, the death seems to be natural, and the speaker is shown as being completely distraught, while in Greater Love, the deaths are in battle, which seems to help glorify the deaths and make the soldiers seem that much more heroic.
The language used to describe death itself in the poems in rather similar as well, and you can sense that Owen took some inspiration from Swinburne. For example, both poems use words such as 'forbidden' and 'harsh', to show the affects of death on love, which shows the feelings that both poems have towards the subject.
My classmate Georgia mentions that Greater Love is a mockery of Before The Mirror, which I completly disagree with. I believe that Greater Love is a hommage to Before The Mirror, and that Owen is expressing his love for that poem in parodying it in this. Owen supposedly had a great love of poetry, and so it is easy to understand why he would reference a favourite poem in his, as mimicry is the ultimate form of flattery.
One final thing about the poems is the themes. In Before The Mirror, we see one mans reflections on the death of one person very important to him. He mourns that one person and feels awful about how it is affecting him. This is mirrored in Greater Love, on a macro scale. In Greater Love, Owen is commenting on the massive scale of love that is talked about in Greater Love, which mentions that generality of love felt for soldiers by the people fighting at home. This talks about the almost nationalistic feeling of pride that people have towards the men fighting for their countries.
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