Critical Evaluation of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est.’
Marcus White
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is a war poem written by Wilfred Owen. Owen uses techniques to show strong images to show the physical state of the soldiers in the First World War. Owen wrote the poem during his military service. He also wrote it in the front line in the trenches. Owen is a famous poet and died in battle.
The soldiers are in the trenches in the front line in France. The men are going back to camp because they are so exhausted they can’t even hear the bombs going off behind them. Then there is a gas attack from the enemy. They were putting on there helmets but one does not make it in time and dies from the gas and Wilfred Owen watched him die through the misty panes on his helmet. Owen said that he could not sleep without seeing the soldier die in his dreams. Owen Shares with the reader his thoughts. He tells that if you had some nightmares the reader could walk behind the wagon where the soldiers including Owen threw the soldier that died in the gas attack into the wagon. Owen is very angry about the old lie because he thinks it is wrong for children to die for their country propaganda is the main theme because everybody was forced to go into the army by false advertisement by saying it is good and right to fight for your country.