Jad Shakhashir English 10 Block G 22/03/11
English “DULCE ET DECORUM EST” Written commentary
“DULCE ET DECORUM EST” is poem (elegy) written by Wilfred Owen. The topic of “DULCE ET DECORUM EST” is the pain and hurt soldiers of World War I go through. Throughout the poem, the poet portrays the theme of pain and suffering to emphasize the Latin statement at the end of the poem “It is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country” by using literary devices such as: imagery, repetition, simile and alliteration.
The first part of the poem talks about the horrible conditions the soldiers are in as they gingerly make their way back to base camp when the speaker says, “coughing” “lost their boots” “fatigue, deaf”. As the poem goes on, we see the soldiers dying due to gas grenades as they head back and the way they die is shown in detail “drowning” “helpless” “chocking, drowning” “blood”. The final part of the poem switches from past and plural to present and singular tense as the speaker moves from an army in battle to a single soldier (speaker) when the speaker says: “it is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country”.