In the first stanza Owen describes the soldiers marching with similes such as “ bent double ”, “ like old beggars ”, “ knock-kneed ” and “ drunk with fatigue ”. These grim images show the soldiers exhaustion and scruffy appearance. The phrase “ blood-shod ” shows the reader how harshly the men are being treated and also suggests that the men are not wearing any boots. The fact that the soldiers are not wearing any boots suggests to the reader that they have been lost in the mud and have got no time to go and retrieve them. To me this proposes that the men are in a lot of pain but are too tired to realise. In addition to this the poet describes their physical state aswell as their mental state, both of which are paralysed with exhaustion. “ Men marched asleep ” once more, Owen extends this idea of men sleep walking with more adjectives such as “ blind, drunk, deaf ” which shows how the soldiers senses have ceased to function.
In the second stanza the men are marching back from the war when they are suddenly attacked with poisonous gas “ Gas, GAS. Quick boys ”. The phrase “ an ecstasy of fumbling ” clearly portrays the soldiers panic as they try do don their “ clumsy helmets ”. The poet then focuses on one young individual who has been unable to don his mask in time. Owen uses similes such as “ flound’ring like a man in fire or lime ” to illustrate the pain and suffering which the young soldier is experiencing. By doing this the author manages to create an atmosphere in which the reader can only imagine the agony the soldiers are going through, which has left me with a horrible image of what the front line must have been like. Owen also uses metaphors to recapitulate what he saw. “ Under a green sea, I saw him drowning ”. This describes the gas reaching his “ froth-corrupted lungs ” yet was nothing he could do.
In the penultimate stanza the poet returns to the “ present ”, showing how his dreams have been haunted by what he has seen in the war. Written in the present tense, emphasises how severely the poet is continuously being haunted in these “ helpless dreams ”. Owen uses adjectives to show how the dying man “ plunges ” out at him. “ guttering, choking, drowning ” also adds to the effect of the suffering. This makes the reader feel an unease as they imagine a helpless soldier drowning in front of their eyes.
Within the final stanza the reader is presented with the body of the young soldier being “ flung ” on to the wagon like a lump of meat. We see his white eyes “ writhe ” as the blood comes “ gargling ” from his “ froth corrupted lungs ”, suggesting vicious agony and discomfort. The rest of the stanza focuses on these brutal, inhumane images, one of which I found particularly horrifying.
To conclude, it is in the final stanza that Owen comes to his conclusion that the propaganda to convince young men to die is a lie. It is neither “ Dulce ” nor “ decorum ”, but is painful and repulsive. The propaganda written in Latin at the end emphasises how sarcastic the tone is.