Dulce et Decorum Est - Analysis

By Thuva Mayonmarukan

War is a very destructive event that often occurs. It takes the lives of millions of soldiers, who are constantly mislead into believing that it is sweet and right to die for their country. Wilfred Owen was one of few that realized the irony in the slogan Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori. In the poem, he emphasizes the reality of war and the deceptive ways of the government and how false the slogan is. The voice of the poem is completely Owens for the reason that he was part of the war, and he knew how much all the soldiers suffered. The voice represents him and all the soldiers that suffered and died during the Great War, which is why it gives the poem a very personal and strong tone. The opening image that Owen creates is very simple yet powerful. The first line gives a perfect idea about the tone of the poem Bent double, like old beggars under sacks. It gives a very negative tone, and so does the rest of the stanza. But as you move on throughout the poem you can see that the poem switches to a panicked tone, and moves on to a disappointed tone to say that Owen had been deceived, which is also the base of the poem. The first stanza expresses the way war affects a soldier personally. It describes the situation which every soldier in the trenches goes through and the way it feels. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, tells us that the soldiers went on without sleep and gave everything they had to stay alive and out of the way of the bombs. The ending line of the first stanza has been written in many different ways. The version we received said Of disappointed shells that dropped behind, but there are several different versions. One of the different versions is the more technical version, which states the actual types of bombs that dropped behind; Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.1 The other version that I found was a slightly duller Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.2 This is the only line that generally changes, but the rest of the poem usually stays the same. Owens use of imagery is very simple yet very strong. He tends to use more of similes rather than metaphors. He also uses many personifications, and he has a very strong personification in the first line of the last stanza: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace. This line describes the dreams in one single word, rather than choosing to write, for example: horrific dream in where you feel very tense and uncomfortable. The personification fits perfectly in that position. I think that his use of imagery is what makes him a good poet. He doesnt use two words when one will do, but he makes sure the words that he uses are strong enough to make his point comprehensible. Defining a poem as an elegy is not to check what structure it has, but to check what the poem is about. In other words, you decide on whether its an elegy or not, according to the content not the structure. The elegy is a type of poem that is often related to death and grief. Ancient Greek elegies were usually about great rulers that died tragically, or about simple workers that died tragically. So elegies are usually about tragic deaths. Owens elegy is no exception, it is clearly an elegy, because it has no specific form and its about tragic mass death.
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http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html http://www.englishverse.com/poems/dulce_et_decorum_est

Dulce et Decorum Est - Analysis

By Thuva Mayonmarukan

This poem has existed for over 90 years, and it is still being used all over the world for several reasons. From English class teachers assigning their students to analyze the poem, to certain anti-government activists using it to keep people away from being recruited into the army. These activists usually use this poem, because it gives a very a gloomy and depressing mood and picture of military life. Obviously, no one wants to dedicate their life to something boring and gloomy, so the usage of this poem goes well with the purpose of the activists. I believe that there are two certain lines that set the mood for the whole poem, in the first stanza; Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind. These two lines set the mood for the whole poem. It is so well imaged, but yet so subtle. It gives a certain image of the situation with very subtle imagery. Even though the whole poem is very well written, there are two certain lines that give the meaning to the whole poem. In the third stanza; In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,/ He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning, describes Owens personal view of the whole war, and the personal view of thousands of soldiers, who watched their friends die right in front of them. It sets a very serious tone to the whole poem, but it gives a very brief description of how the battlefield in WWI looked like. It was a horrible war, but Owen managed to see the false policy of the government. And of course the last two lines give the obvious meaning to the whole poem: The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est,/ pro patria mori. It is sweet and right to die for your country, is an old lie. This is obviously what the poem is about, but there are several deeper meanings in the poem. In conclusion, this poem is the best poem to be written in WWI. It is one of my favourite poems of all time.