The poem " Dulce et Decorum Est " by Wilfred Owen

Authors Avatar

Dulce et Decorum Est

The poem “ Dulce et Decorum Est ” by Wilfred Owen is a poem describing a terrifying aspect of the horror and misery of war. The poem describes to me an extremely graphic image of the First World War; one of which I am sure will stay with me for quite some time.  

        One of the reasons the theme of this poem was made memorable to me was that it was easy for me to imagine the frontline due to the traumatic, graphic metaphors the poet “ throws ” in my mind, “ obscene as cancer ”. Another way this poem is made memorable to me is how the author conveys an image of how tired they are by saying how the “ men marched asleep ”. This shows the reader how tired the men are due to the time which they have been sent fighting.

Join now!

        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 ...

This is a preview of the whole essay