Dulce Et Decorum Est.
Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem, set during World War One written by Wilfred Owen. The title literally means sweet and right which reflects societys belief that young men fight for their country and if necessary, die. A belief Owen is determined to expose as naive and idealistic. Owen sets his poem in the trenches and writes in the first person about the horrific experiences he encountered during his service. His poem focuses particularly on a gas attack in which a soldier died before his eyes. This essay will explore how Owen conveys the reality of war through his use of imagery, word choice, structure and the tone of the poem. Owen wrote this poem to challenge the romantic illusions of war held by society that encouraged young men to fight in the war.
The opening picture Owen paints is of the condition of the men and the environment around them which is in immediate contrast to the title. He uses shocking imagery to help the reader appreciate and understand the sense of despair. The simile bent over like old beggars indicates they were in such pain or laden down they could not stand up. Owen refers to them as old or elderly and decrepit where as they are young and should be in good shape, almost as if have aged prematurely. The soldiers partly staggered, partly marched through the mud; (knock-kneed an alliteration to further describe the soldiers gait;) the extended metaphor in which he describes the men as deaf..to the hoots. His next simile coughing like hags further emphasises their poor condition as they were coughing harshly. He continues with limped on bloodshed drunk with fatigue to further describe the suffering of the men as they stagger back to safety and to imply what they have endured at the front. He then highlights the horrific consequences of these conditions All went lame. All went blind showing the terrible sacrifices made, how they temporarily lost their senses such as hearing. In this first stanza, Owen carefully blows apart the title sweet and right by showing just the opposite and creating such terrible images in the mind of the reader.
This was a stark contrast to societys belief that the men were proud marching soldiers and that they were all being well looked after. Owens use of words in this first line stanza paints powerful pictures and additionally he holds the rhythm together by using words which sound similar at the end of each line, for example sludge trudge and blind behind. This slow steady rhythm reflects the slow progress of the men and helps the reader visualise both their exhaustion and determination.
In the second stanza, Owen introduces the horrors and panic of a gas attack. He changes the tempo by using short sentences and single direct emphatic single syllable words and exclamation marks Gas. Gas. Quick boys. At this point Owen reminds the reader that the soldiers are in fact young men by referring to them as boys. He describes the panic of the situation by using words such as fumbling. The actions of the soldiers collectively adorning their masks is described as an ecstasy of fumbling which also conveys how unexpected the attack was. As the scene develops Owen describes his horror as he becomes aware of a soldier who didnt put his mask on in time. The reader can appreciate the panic as the soldier was yelling out and stumbling under the effects of the gas. Owen recreates the tension by using the words floundering and drowning to show the helplessness of someone gasping their last breaths. He also creates a state of fear in the reader in the form of identifying how hopeless it was and how the men were beyond help like a man on fire or lime and under a green sea, I saw him drowning. He clearly wants to shock readers with the depth of the mens suffering. This image of a long painful death caused by the horrific effects of modern warfare is in stark contrast to the belief that there was honour to found by dying on the battlefield.
The third stanza stands out because it has only two lines and Owen cleverly changes the tense to allow him to share the impact it has upon him. He begins with the words in all my dreams indicating that vision haunts him persistently and that he could do nothing then or now to prevent it before my helpless sight. Owen uses onomatopoeic words such as guttering, choking to recreate the horrific sound last gasps of a dying man. Owen adds impact to the vividness of the images already created in the second stanza with the addition of his own suffering. Owen enables the reader to appreciate that the survivors also suffered both emotionally and physiologically. These are long term effects which were not considered at the time.
In the final verse the tone changes as Owens voice becomes more clear and he invites the reader with the words you too to imagine what he has see, lack of concern for the soldier as he is thrown into a wagon behind a wagon that we flung him in. The use of the word flung indicates there was little time to treat him with the respect he deserved. Owen uses this last verse to drive home the vile nature of the war he so despised. He describes this by detailing the face of the soldier thrown in the wagon which so scarred his memory the white eyes writhing in his face. The lasting image of these eyes are etched in the readers mind and twinned with the simile his face hanging like a devil sick of sin as if the devil himself would be horrified. Language such as gargling from froth-corrupted lungs, of vile incurable sores are all distasteful images which adds to Owens portrayal of hell in the trenches. He throws down the proverbial gauntlet to the reader towards the end of the verse challenging them to change their mindset; namely if they had saw what he had, would they still encourage the young to risk their lives so rapidly by promoting the romantic image of war? He does so by addressing their conscience in his conclusion My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent from some desperate glory the old lie. Owen has changed is approach and is talking directly to the reader, stating the title of the poem in the last two lines Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori it is sweet and right to fight for your country. Through his graphic description of the reality of war, Owen has portrayed the irony of the title and has successfully shown how false and misleading this statement is.
In Wilfred Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est he shows there is no triumph or glory in dying in war. It is a very dark poem in which Owen uses powerful images and language to create a reality which supports his objective which is that war is brutal, horrific and not honourable. In my opinion, he has achieved this objective by painting graphic pictures with carefully chosen words, which bring home the horrors of war. Owen doesnt just tell the story he engages you through imagery and controls the pace of the poem. He relates his personal experiences of war, sharing his thoughts and feelings with the reader to give an accurate and true account of the conditions during World War One.
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