...Explication of “Dulce et Decorum Est” By: Wilfred Owen Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem written by Wilfred Owen that uses powerful imagery to express an important message. A message that war is not glorious and noble and should not be portrayed this way. The speaker is a soldier in the army who describes the true horrors of the war and how young men believed it was an honor to die for your country. The poem is written in a simple regular rhyme scheme. Owen uses graphic imagery to show what the war was like. The similes and metaphors he uses give you a clear picture to describe the ugliness of the war. The tone is very harsh and he speaks very direct. He uses words that will shock you and leave you with a sick feeling. In the first stanza, the first two lines of the poem are, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks/Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”. This represents the men bent over carrying their belongings through the mud. They are being compared to as old beggars & hags, (miserable ugly old women). However, these men were young. In the third and forth lines, “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs/And towards our distant rest began to trudge”, represents the tired soldiers heading back to camp. In the fifth and six lines, “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;” this shows how tired the men were as if they were marching in their sleep. Many have lost their boots and...
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...I have chosen this text type, because it gives reasons why Wilfred Owen had a strong opinion on the first world war. My purpose of this text is to show the connections of Wilfred Owen's life to his poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. I am going to communicate my ideas in this text by analysing Owen's life and his poem supporting my ideas with evidence out of Owen's poetry. I intend to engage my audience by showing them what the purpose of Owen's poetry was. Wilfred Owen does have a strong opinion on the topic World War One as he has experienced the war situation as a soldier in front row. His personal war experience had a big influence on his style, language and also the topics of his poetry. His past as a soldier in front row makes his writing style more...
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...Dulce et Decorum est. In 1917 Wilfred Owen was shell-shocked in the war and was a patient in hospital in Edin burgh when he penned ‘Dulce et Decorum est.’ It was here that Owen encountered Siegfried Sassoon who was sent there to silence him, but encouraged and helped Owen to not only write his poems, but ultimately ensured that his work was published. This was a time when the battles he experienced were still fresh in his mind and the truth about war was not cloud- ed by further life experiences. This is a particularly potent, powerful and hard-hitting piece of poetry. The poet describes the harsh and inhuman conditions of war which is in stark contrast to the propaganda which was published by the military hierarchy and the British state. The following essay will analyse the experiences that Owen was trying to convey through the words he very carefully chose in the writing of this poem. The first eight lines take on a very slow laborious tone which actually physically slows the reader down and sets the mood. Using a phrase like ‘Bent double like old beggars’ in his description of young men in their prime, really gives you a proper idea of the effect this battle has had on the soldiers. ‘Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’ allit eration of the letter ‘k’ gives the line even more punch and portrays absolute exhaustion, ‘coughing’ would refer to the effects that the battle had on their health from colds and flu’s to the effects...
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...Even as of today, thousands of years since the first war, people still argue on the morality of war. As such a controversial topic, it is destined to be written about, including in the form of poems. This paper will compare the different outlooks society has on wars by comparing two poems, "Dulce et Decorum Est" and " Who's for the Game?". "Dulce et Decorum Est" was written by Wilfred Owen and "Who's for the Game?" was written by Jessie Pope.After reading each poem it is clear that the authors have very different but strong opinions on war. In the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est", it addresses all the negative aspects of war. For example, one phrase is "Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod.". If a young citizen reads this it will indubitably make them second guess about enlisting in the military. The entirety of the poem is about all the possible injuries, both mental and physical, that can go along with war. Owen then ended the poem stating it is a lie when people say it is right to die for your nation. "Dulce et Decorum Est" is meant to make the reader view war negatively and persuade them to think about all the dangerous injuries that can can result from it....
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...The analysis of a poem: Dulce et Decorum Est Question 1 (a) Describe what effects the poem has on you. When reading this poem, I can clearly picture the horrifying scene of battle; it is deeply moving and the imagery is vivid due to Owen’s use of similes, metaphors and alliteration. (b) Say what you think the subject matter is about. The poem is a first-hand account of the terrible reality of trench warfare in the First World War. Owen portrays the soldiers as being tired broken and weak, whereas the authorities in Britain [at the time] were depicting them as brave, glorious and strong young men, honourably fighting for their country. This poem is the antithesis to the war propaganda of the British ‘recruitment drive’ during the Great War. Question 2 (a) Identify and list in note form, three of the techniques used in these lines. Simile: “like old beggars”, “like hags” Alliteration: “Knock-kneed”, “Men marched” Metaphor: “haunting flares”, “Drunk with fatigue” (b) Comment in complete sentences on what the effects of the three techniques you have identified might be. Owen uses similes comparing the soldiers to “old beggars” and “hags”, to convey how the war has reduced them to absolute wrecks. The resulting effect is an image of crumpled, broken, hopeless men at death’s door rather than strong, upright, warrior figures. The use of alliteration alters the rhythm of the poem, thus drawing attention to the words. “Knock-kneed” portrays...
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...Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est, is gory portrayal of the helplessness of soldiers who are caught in a gas bomb. Dulce is well known for its criticism of war propaganda and the glorification of war through the old lie ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Owen directs his main criticism at another war poet, Jessica Pope, who wrote a poem urging impressionable young men to fight in the war as they would be seen as heroes by their country. The poem directly detests Pope’s ideals of War as Owen himself has experienced the torment of War and has not experienced the things Pope speaks about in her poem. Straight away in the first stanza Owen confronts the readers with the horrific image of soldiers displaced by the war in poor physical state. Instead of the...
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...Dulce et decorum est is a poem by Wilfred Owen written during world war I, while he was in the trenches. The title is the first part of a quotation by Horace’s Odes: “Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori” that means “It’s sweet and honourable to die for your country” but the whole poem aims at contradicting the title. His style is experimental in fact he uses the free verse. In the first stanza Owen describes the subject, that are the soldiers, through similies such as “Old beggars” and “Hags” because he wants to show us anti-heroic figures, going against the propaganda that encourages young men to go fighting and dying for their country preaching the ideals of nationalism, glory and courage. Owen describes us horrible and degraded scenes of the real life in war and he adds emphasis using allitterations: of the b in the first line Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, of the kn in the second, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, of the m in the fifth, Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsof the b again in the sixth of the d But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; In the second stanza he describes us a specific episode, the dead by gas, using another experimental tool, the direct speech, to add phatos. -Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – He uses even the I-figure in the 14th line, because he feels one of the soldiers. The third stanza, where he describes the death of a soldier, is the shortest, but three words are enough to...
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...A Must Have: Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” Dear Mr. Kennedy, I recently learned that you are getting ready to start your preparations for the next edition of An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. There will have to be many tough decisions made on selections of literature that should be in the next edition. I would like to offer you a suggestion on a piece that I find very interesting and should be used in the next edition. That is a poem by Wilfred Owen “Dulce et Decorum Est.” I consider myself to be a bit of a war buff, and this poem gives you the feeling that you are there in the trenches with the men. Wilfred Owen is able to give you a first person point of view of war through his poem. Owen uses great visual imagery on what life is like during trench warfare to help you feel like you are there beside him during the horrors of war. I beg of you to include Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” in the next edition! Throughout the poem Owen uses visual imagery to get his message of the horrors of war through. In An Introduction, to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing you define visual imagery as “Often this experience is a sight . . .” (751). When reading “Dulce et Decorum Est” Owen gives the ability to visualize what is going on constantly throughout the poem. Owen is able to use visual imagery to show you the shape the men are in during the battle and what chaos goes on during a gas attack. Owen also uses visual imagery about the nightmares he deals with after...
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...“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen portrays perfectly the shocking horrors of World War One. The poem is full of stark similes and metaphors which build a raw image of the troops experiences. In this poem Owen tries to convince the readers that the horror of war outweighs the clichés of people who try to glamorise war. In this work of poetry the more you read the more sympathy you have for the troops and by the end you are left feeling very disturbed. In the first stanza you immediately get a feel of how terrifying it was for the soldiers. This is assisted with the strong use of similes and metaphors which portray the struggles and suffering that these men were faced with. In the first line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,” shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. “Coughing like hags,” suggests that the men were suffering from ill health. The first few lines also have a slightly unnatural and mysterious feel and “haunting flares,” reinforces this feeling. In a lot of Stanza one Wilfred Owen uses short direct phrases which indicate how the men feel. For example “Men marched asleep,” this emphatic metaphor is particularly striking because it clearly indicates the level of exhaustion that these men are faced with. As the poem goes on you are given an even more realistic account of the soldier’s fatigue. “All went lame; all blind,” the troops are “Drunk with fatigue”. These are both very descriptive because they are visual descriptions...
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...Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen [1893-1918] Wilfred Owen uses vivid imagery and direct syntax to convey the brutal reality faced by an infantryman in World War I. The central fact of this poem is that it involves human experience and suffering. The poet speaks with a particular voice because his experience demands it. The poem is written as two sonnets, the first embodying the structure of a Petrarchan sonnet, an octave followed by a sestet, and the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, omitting the rhyming couplet at the end. In other words, the rhyme scheme is ababcdcd,efefgh. The second sonnet is similar to a Shakespearean sonnet in meter and rhyme, except for the absence of a terminal couplet. gh,ijijklklmnmn. Similes and metaphors are used in abundance, conveying in simple and direct terms the mood of the soldiers as they trudge towards a distant destination. "Bent double like old beggars under sacks" (line 1), "coughing like hags" (line 2), "we cursed through sludge" (line 2), "drunk with fatigue" (line 7) all impart the fatigue and weak condition of the men in battle. Owen again uses similes to describe the gas attack. "And flound'ring like a man on fire or lime" (line 12) and, "as under a green sea I saw him drowning" (line 14) depict a man slowly dying, his lungs burnt by poison gas. The gas shells are personified (line 7) as hooting down from the sky. This and the imagery used "Dim through...
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...and stumbling to put on his protective mask and was reacting to the pain of the gas getting into his body. His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin – The soldiers face was pale and stiff from the gases inhaled, soldiers face looking like he saw the devil himself and it scared him stiff (like in horror movies). From the horrifying scenes from War to the life and feeling of coming home Don’t come home and praise about the War. My friend you would not tell with such high zest – Talking about the soldier that died with NO idealistic enthusiasm. To children ardent for some desperate glory – Nor would you talk to any children about what was seen or heard during the War to gain any praise or glory about yourself or the War The old Lie; Dulce et...
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...Dulce et Decorum Est: Lines 1-8: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks; Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge” The soldiers in this poem are crippled, mentally and physically overcome by the weight of their experiences in war. There is simile upon simile before we are acquainted with the subjects of this poem. We hear that they’re “like old beggars” and “like hags”. The speaker’s searching for images that the reader can understand, as if he’s convinced that none of his readers will be able to understand how horribly twisted and deformed the bodies of the soldiers have become. “Haunting flares” is associated with a good, warm light but in fact the light is haunting. There is an oh-so-subtle irony in the reference to the soldiers’ “distant rest”. He could be talking about the barracks to which we guess that they’re headed. The “distant rest” to which our soldiers are heading may just be death. Lines 1-4 is a complex sentence. Lines 5-8 underline the horror of the men walking as if they were dead (out of exhaustion). By ending a sentence in the middle of line five, Owen creates a caesura, a formal effect that underscores the tenderness of the poem’s language at this point. Words like “lost” and “limped” and “blood” all roll on our tongues, making the experience of reading the lines even longer and emphasises the alliteration of the letter ‘l’. The blood that has been shed seems to clothe the soldiers now (or at least their feet). This creates...
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...Poems are regularly catalysed by individual encounters, expressing poets worries about existence and urging audiences to grasp their unique point of view T.S. Elliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prudfrock and Winfred Owens poem Dulce et Decorum Est, are illustrations of modernist poetry however, which both poets intended to mirror the feeling of frustration and ineptitude they felt as the revulsions of World War 1 mounted. Owen solidly rejects the thought of heroism in war that had been made by the Romanticist poets, through the fierce images of its traumatising effect on soldiers. Elliot likewise, expresses his worries by investigating ones feeling of futility and meaningless in society through the persona of a sceptical J. Alfred Prudfrock, reflecting modern man's disappointment with 19th century values. Owen repudiates social orders deluded convictions about the common idealistic and courageous perspectives of war depicting its brutal and...
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...Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen an Analysis The Work: Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem written during World War I by soldier and poet, Wilfred Owen. The poem is known for Owen’s graphic and realistic depiction of the horrible trench warfare of WWI. Owens paints a verbal picture of the scene, speaking in first person, and describes what’s going on to him and his fellow troop members. Important to mention is what the poems title means, it is latin for “It is sweet and right to die for one's country”. The phrase was commonly used during the WWI era, and thus would have resonated with Owen's readers in that time period (Poets.org). The poem starts out with Owen describing the troop of army men of which he is a member. He chronicles the men as been doubled over, “coughing like hags” as they “cursed through sludge”. He paints a grim picture of trench warfare that was so prevalent during WWI; describing the men trudging through the mud, saying “many had lost their boots but limped on”. In the next stanza comes utter panic as gas shells are dropped and hurled in troops direction. They rush to put on their helmets on and run to safety but by the end of the stanza Wilfred notices one of his comrades is in trouble, writing, “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”. In the next two lines Owen uses powerful imagery talking about the helpless soldier. Saying, “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” He truly gives you a sense...
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...A poem “Dulce et Decorum est” by Wilfred Owen conveys the horrors of war and uncovers the hidden truths of the past century. The poet’s ability to create effective imagery; his usage of expressive language and poetic techniques and the poem leaves a reader to experience feelings such as pity and guilt. I consider Wilfred Owen a good poet from the very start as he shows ability to captivate the reader into his story by applying and engaging heading. Dulce et Decorum est reveals the hidden truths of the past century’s war, by uncovering the cruelties the soldiers were left to face. The poem is authentic as Wilfred Owen was ‘there’ to experience the atrocities of the First World War. The poem begins with a glimpse at the soldiers’ living conditions and their lifestyle, which provided them with untimely age. The poet then describes a dreadful gas attack that follows along with its horrid outcomes. The poem resumes eventually, the poet confirms the present propaganda to be “the old Lie” – as the glory of war is a myth. Reading this poem, made me realize my own luck and circumstance: I have been fortunate to avoid the Wars and brutalities that were brought on by World War One. The appalling conditions the soldiers were left to face made me appreciate that my own life has not been disturbed. I am devastated by the fact that even today, many innocent people are exposed to such horrors. The poem is started unexpectedly: in the middle of action as if halfway through an incomplete...
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