Dulce et Decorum Est :: English Literature

Dulce et decorum EstWilfred OwenOwens song Dulce et Decorum Est is a passionate expression of outrageat the inconsistencys of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed init.From the title of this song great deal back home would have expected anunderstanding poem, helping to shoot down their grief at the loss of aloved bingle, instead what they got was a poem expressing outrage at thelies surrounding the Great War.The quote by Horace translates as It is sweetness and right to die forones country, but the poem is about proving to people at home thatthis isnt a sweet and honourable way to die (if there is any). Itgoes through the worst separate of the war and describes them in detail.The horrors in these descriptions contradict the glorification of thewarThe poem consists of four stanzas, the first describes the soldiers,the second a gas attack, the third Owens nightmares and last anaccusation to the people back home.Owens poems are suffused with the horror of fighting, and yet finelystructured and innovative.The first stanza sets the scene as it describes the conditions the menfought in and their feelings.Owen immediately shocks the readers by describing the young soldiersas bent branched emphasising their exhaustion and the way they slumpalong, deformed by fatigue, I estimate this is an effective similebecause no one back home forget be expecting their proud soldiersdescribed as beggars. The simile coughing wish well hags was usedbecause the men who went into battle were relatively young, yet afterbattle they looked old and ugly, hence hags. With this one displaceenceOwen implies health conditions that no one at home would ever dreamof. Words like Hags, ill-omened and Haunting are used as they all haveconnotations of offensive to emphasise the misery and hardship of the frontlines. Owen chooses his word carefully use ones the readers willunderstand to describe processes they cant, Drunk with fatigue(Line 7), canvass the effects of being drunk to being overly tired,for example the fluctuation walk, tripping and stumbling. This iseffective because everyone reading would know what its like to bedrunk. The tired, outstripped Five-Nines being a type of gun, butalso the soldiers being sent from the trenches for some rest andrelaxation. He uses words like We, Our to show that he is part ofthis mayhem. He seems almost detached as if he has seen this sooften, that to him it has lost the horror value that we feel.In the second stanza there is a dramatic change in pace to demonstrate