“Dulce et Decorum Est” is a poem written by Wilfred Owen after his experience of fighting in World War I. The title is a Latin clause meaning it is worthy to die for one’s country. However, Wilfred Owen shares the reverse opinion, implying that it is an awful death. Due to its language and visualization, the poem still resonates with people, making them think about the realities vividly pictured in it. The poet took a widespread notion about the glory of dying at war and used his poetic skill to show the reader it is the wrong idea.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” arises many themes, although all of them are centered on war, picturing a soldier’s experience and comparing the realities with the glorified perceptions of battles. The reader can see propaganda as one of the major subjects of the poem. The author attempts to show the way different sources idealized war, portraying it as a noble act but not as an event bringing disaster. The poem also portraits an untypical concept of a hero, suggesting that soldiers keeping their heads down survive longer than those trying to display valor. One more subject is patriotism, which created the dreams of many men who entered the war. However, at the moment they saw all the horrors, this image began to seem ridiculous. All of the themes hidden in the poem are aimed at proving the author’s position about the war being horrible and devastating.
The poet uses many literary devices when creating pictures of war in order to enrich the text and make it more vivid and meaningful. One of the widely used patterns is simile, as can be seen in the lines as “like a devil’s sick of sin” (Owen 19). It is aimed at making the text more colorful and interesting for the reader. There is also a metaphor used in the poem to show the physical state of the soldiers: “Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots” (Owen 7). Moreover, imagery is used throughout the poem to make the readers feel all the emotions. Many vivid images are included in the text to create a picture of war, such as “had lost their boots” to immerse the reader into the atmosphere of pain and disaster (Owen 5). It is aimed at allowing the audience experience real feelings of warriors. The analysis of the poem shows that the author skillfully used his personal experience together with literary devices in order to create a special atmosphere targeted at attracting people’s attention to the realities of war.
In the poem, there are two major symbols supporting the poet’s perceptions. The first is disfiguration, showing the way war alters everything, including the human body, which is eventually destroyed. It can be seen in the first lines of the poem: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags” (Owen 1). The poet implies that the soldiers are not the men they used to be before the battle. The second symbol is the concept of the nightmare, as Owen presents the war as a horror, which is impossible to understand. However, all the atrocities, which happened to the soldiers are not a dream. The way the poet showed the war as a nightmare adds to the terror the poem arouses. All the symbols used in the text are aimed at supporting the author’s position about was bringing nothing but disasters.
In conclusion, Wilfred Owen created a poem, which resonates even today. The poet attempted to prove that the perceptions of war as a glorious act are wrong. The fact is that there is nothing noble in dying at war, and soldiers realize the whole concept of patriotism is wrong as soon as they come to battle and witness all the horrors. The poet used unique symbols and literary devices, such as metaphors and hyperboles, to provide proof to his position, and make the reader terrified with the poem and the concept of war.
References
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Poetry Foundation. Web.