Wilfred Owens Dulce et Decorum Est - Essay Example

Dulce et Decorum Est An Essay about Wilfred Owen's best known anti-war poem "Dulce et Decorum est" is a blunt declaration against war. The poet describes war from the soldier's perspective: "we cursed through sludge". He was enlisted and went to war, where was killed. In these 28 verses rhymed in iambic pentameter, the author vividly creates the dramatic atmosphere of the war, only to question the reader in the final lines. If they could live and see what war is really like, they wouldn't encourage the young men to go.

In the first stanza, the author describes the infernal situation of the soldiers. He describes them as "drunk with fatigue", they "marched asleep". They were deaf from the noise of the shells passing though the air. Yet, they kept going, no matter what. Throughout the entire poem, Owen uses the five senses to transmit vividly what it was like to be at war. "haunting flares", "all went lame, all blind", "deaf even to the hoots", etc. He also uses alliteration to reinforce the sounds of this atmosphere.

For example, note the repeated sound of t in: "and towards our distant rest began to trudge". This gives a sense of the unstopping marching of the soldiers. Or in "As under a green sea, I saw", where he creates the hiss of poisonous gas.In the second stanza, a particular character is presented. "But someone still was yelling out and stumbling". Describing a particular person in this awful scene, allows the reader to relate more to the soldier's reality. The utterly violent way in which the gas is killing the soldier shows the vulnerability of humans versus warfare.

"and flound'ring like a man in fire or limeas under a green sea, I saw him drowning". By using this strong image, the gas choking the man is presented as a man drowning in the sea, conveying a very dramatic and powerful image. Then, there is a short stanza of two verses, which stands out from the rest of the poem. "In all my dreams before my helpless sight / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." Because of the powerful, emotive language used, and the fact that it is isolated from the rest of the poem, this sentence grabs the attention of the reader.

And Owen points out the concept of dreams. It gives a sense of how deep the experience of war can go, not even in his dreams he can rest from the war. It is as if he was drowning too, when he cannot escape the vision of the agonizing soldier. We can even get a sense that he feels guilty as he watches this soldier, his eyes asking for help, yet he is unable to do anything. The layout of "Dulce et Decorum est" is intentionally set out as it represents the struggle that the soldier has to face. The first two paragraphs are of similar length (8 verses each), and represent the organized troops going off to war.

The short stanza in the middle is where he shares a personal impression that is quite shocking for the audience. He tells us how much war has affected him; his dreams haunt him without cease.In the following and final stanza, the argument becomes more evident. The author speaks directly to the audience, those who may think that war is glorious and honorable, those who believe in heroism and are supporters of the war. He is asking those people if they would still feel the same way if they had seen a man dying painfully from gas: "If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace", "And watch the white eyes writhing in his face", "If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood / Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs".

Notice the use of onomatopoeia in the word gargling, to emphasize the horrific sound that haunts his dreams. Another rhetorical device he uses is the hyperbole (exaggeration), "his hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin", "obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud". This strong imagery gives us a sense of the author's position on war, such horrors innocent men lived thinking that it could be wonderful and honorable to fight for their country.Through strong, sharp images, he attempts to put the reader in his position, and challenges him to imagine the horrors of war before he can tell with such enthusiasm the "old Lie" told by Horace; it is sweet and right to die for your country.

This ending contains all the force of the poem, because it approaches the reader condescendingly, referring to him as friend ("My friend, you would not tell with such high zest"); and then confronting him with this well-known saying in Latin: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"; after all the experiences he had exposed before, this words have a profound impact on the reader. Would you still think of dying for your country as a heroic act, after living through that hellSources:Owen, Wilfred.

"Dulce et Decorum est". In PoemHunter.com http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asppoet=3129&poem=16231