The poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen tells us, the reader, in four stanzas about memory and experience in battle during World War I. This poem is an expression of rage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it for the old lie .
Wilfred Owen was working as a soldier in the trenches of World war one, when he wrote this poem. He wrote this poem to express his feelings about the war, and how it affected his physical and mental health. Wilfred had witnessed many of his colleagues, friends, and familys deaths, he found seeing them dying mortifying. I know that he found the deaths surrounding him mortifying, by the fact he states in the third stanza;Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues These particular two lines are very morbid, giving it that much more of a robust feeling to how much it captured the lives of so many and how horrific it was for those dying from the poisonous gases. He illustrates the point that no one can save you when you begin to die from the gases, by comparing it to cancer, which is very similar in that all you can do is watch them die slowly, over a period of time, not a single cure for those dying. The fact that there was no cure left the person dying and those watching dying helpless. In this particular poem it is about one young soldier. These two lines show that Wilfred felt vulnerable because there was nothing he or anyone could do to help the dying; the impact of this one particular death left an imprint in his brain.
The major theme of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is to do with its title. The full phrase is "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," which can be translated as, "it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. Owen consciously works to weaken this statement of patriotism by showing the dishonour of death in war. The speaker in Dulce et Decorum Est, is so clearly certain as Owen himself, who is forever overwhelmed with visions of his comrades end. The tone of this poem is bold and bitter but in a realistic way. The poem uses irony because the old lie is nothing to glamorize yet it still takes people in.
What most readers notice immediately when reading "Dulce et Decorum Est" is the vividness of Owen's imagery. The poet is able to make the horrors of warfare come alive before readers' eyes. Some of those images are expressed in carefully chosen metaphors; others are simply presented in graphic language that describes the scene as the narrator sees it or remembers it. He uses descriptive language To describe the difficulty of some of his comrades who no longer have boots to wear but who must go on about their duties, he says, "we limped on, blood-shod" graphically depicting the condition of the men's feet by capturing both the sight and the feeling of this situation.
In addition to descriptive writing the poem uses metaphors and similes, as said before. Wilfred Owen uses metaphors to grasp youre attention, giving the reader a disturbing picture to give the purpose of the poem much more meaning and impact. An example of an effective metaphor is, Drunk with fatigue in stanza one, the meaning to this metaphor was that the soldiers lived off their own tiredness, they all staggered and stumbled along to their destinations, they staggered along and stumbled like that of drunk men. The reason for this was the lack of sleep, stress and malnutrition. An ecstasy of fumbling in stanza two which gave the impression and emphasized that they were in a state of panic to fit the gas masks on to save their own lives. Owen write the simile Obscene as cancer, as bitter as the cud which was in the last stanza this emphasized how impact of the death of this one soldier was as horrific as watching someone dying of cancer. This is very effective because the death of that soldier was so vile and incurable made it that much more of an impact.
Wilfred Owen uses other poetic devices as well including alliteration and rhyme, the lines Knock-kneed, men marched, and sick of sin. all use alliteration. The effect of alliteration being used here is that is it easy to remember, it naturally makes you emphasize the word. The poem has a rhyme scheme of abab and so on the rhyme scheme has the kind of effect that connects one line to the other like soldiers march causing the reader to move on to the next line its not the kind of poem where you would read two lines and stop reading because it has no internal meaning to it this is the kind of poem where many people can relate to it. But the poem itself doesnt have any specific form or structure.
In addition to having very strong, strategically place poetic devices, Dulce et Decorum Est also has excellent word choice. It includes vivid imagery, repetition for effect, and strong words to provoke emotion for his topic. For example, bent double, like old beggars under sacks and Dim, through the mist panes and thick green light, give you an image of the battle, tired scruffy men being fogged by a deadly green mist, this is what the writer was thinking of, imagining, or saw and helps you understand and feel more for his writing. Gas! Gas! Quick boys! shows repetition for effect, saying the same word twice to show its importance, the warning, and the panic that comes along with the words. When Owen writes the old Lie he puts a capital L to emphasize the lie the scam the deceiving messages that took so many young lives.
The meaning to this poem in my opinion is that people are made oblivious to the reality of things so easily, we can be manipulated to fit plans. In conclusion the poem is about how vile the war was. How the soldier were conned into going into the war without a single idea of what was in store for them, how they were put to the slaughter house in ignorance.
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