The reality of war presented by Georg Trakl in the poem “Grodek”

The poem “Grodek” by Georg Trakl, serves as a clear depiction of the reality attributed to war as revealed from this quote “Warriors dying and the wild lament of their fragmented mouths. Yet they gather in the willow combe. Red clouds inhabited by an angry god, shed blood, and the chill of the moon.” Whereas the poem has not been separated to different stanzas, while it features four whole sentences, the way in which it has been arranged leads it to reveal the reality associated with war. The above quoted lines from the poem show how war is associated with destruction, loss of lives and bloodshed. For Trakl’s poem, therefore, it illustrates the reality attributed to war based on the way it depicts the horrors that come with war, especially the merciless nature that prevails in the battleground together with the diverse deaths that result from war. This is seen in the first stanza line 13, “To greet the heroes’ spirits’, the bloodied heads.” As such, on the reality attributed to war, it is monstrous in nature while it leads to tragedy and suffering. This is due to the devastations that result when different parties embark on combat, especially during war times.

The reality of war presented by Georg Trakl is the same as the one presented by Wilfred Owen in his poem Dulce et Decorum Est. Owen presents a different view from the one existing during the first world war about the realities of war. He does not glorify the idea of serving/participating in a war as seen in the first stanza lines 4 and 5 “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots. But limped on, blood shod. All went lame: all blind.” The poem pays attention to the propaganda of supporting war which presented war as glorious and a pride instead of an idea that lead to loss of lives and destruction. Both poets present war as horrible. Owen makes use of figurative speech and assonance to fight the idea that war is full of glory. This is the same case with Trakl who also uses figurative language to show that war is destructive and causes death.