Dulce et Decorum Est

Dulcet et Decorum Est

“Dulce et Decorum est” is a poem written by Wilfred Owen the famous poet and solider, who fought and died in World War 1, who is considered one of the greatest war poets of his time. The Great War resulted in more than 40 million casualties; soldiers were originally volunteers but were increasingly conscripted into service. War poets such as Owen describe the intense horror of being a solider in the trenches. People who stayed home were blissfully unaware of the sufferings of the soldiers at the front line. They stayed in their safe homes swallowing the propaganda fed to them by the government, telling the younger generations stories of the honour and bravery of the battlefield. The poem “Dulce et Decorum” addresses the issue of propaganda and the horror suffered. The poem effectively delivers the messages “Don’t lie to the public through propaganda” and “The War was the pointless killing of the innocent.”

The first stanza of the poem is very significant in that it uses alliteration and meter that plunges the reader into the poem. This and the fact the first stanza is in first person causes the reader to feel as if he or she is experiencing war firsthand. Owen incorporates specific imagery to into the poem in order to introduce the reader to the chaotic world of war. Owen opens by saying that the soldiers are “bent double.” This statement manages to effectively convey the exhaustion of the soldiers, who have become so disillusioned that they find themselves in a state of purgatorial numbness. Moreover, Owen describes the soldiers as being like “old-beggars.” This a peculiar term to use since most the soldiers were young men when they enlisted; Owen’s reason for using this simile is to demonstrate the way war ages soldiers both physically and emotionally. He also compares the soldiers to “hags” a word that brings to mind disfigurement, and thus could act as a possible reference to the mutilation of bodies so often encountered in war. Additionally, Owen describes the soldiers as being “drunk with fatigue” which seems especially significant because of the suggestion of idea of inebriation as a form of escape from reality, the only method of escape available to them.

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The second Stanza of the poem signifies a major transitional point in the poem, breaking down the structure and snapping the reader into a sense of panic that is similar to the fear experienced on the battlefield. Owen opens the stanza with the words “Gas! GAS!” The capital letters are important because it sets a tone of urgency and panic and makes it seem as if the author is yelling at the reader, just as the soldiers and the superiors would probably be yelling frantically. Interestingly, Owen describes the soldiers experience as an “ecstasy of fumbling.” The use of the word “ecstasy” to describe an undoubtedly horrific experience shows Owens recognition and disgust at the aesthticization of war and death commonly utilized by the government at the time. Owen uses words such as “clumsy”, “stumbling” and “flound’ring” to stress the immediacy and emergency of the state in which the soldiers find themselves. One gets the sense that most, if not all, choreographed instructions and drills of procedures for this kind of emergency are discarded and that the soldiers frantically improvise to do what they can to survive. Furthermore, the ellipsis in this stanza seems vital in the understanding the poem. This is because it represents the passage of time between the frantic fumbling for the gas masks and Owen’s viewing of a man “drowning” in a “sea” of gas, struggling to survive, the use of “sea” and “drowning” conveys the image of the body thrashing as one would when drowning.

The third stanza of the poem is the shortest, but in some ways, it is the most vivid. Owen describes how he sees this man “in all dreams”; this is characteristic of the ongoing trauma that so many soldiers experience not only during the war, but after the war as well. The narrator describes himself as experiencing this repeatedly, watching this man, yet remaining “helpless”. This illustrates Owen’s frustration, and perhaps guilt, at his not being able to do anything to save this man. Owen goes on to say that the man “plunges at me”; the man knows he is going to die, because try as he might he is aware that there is nothing to be done. It is clear that Owen is haunted by this image based on his vivid description of the man as “guttering, choking and drowning.” The man slow and futile struggle to survive continues to disturb Owen for long after the incident has passed.

The fourth and final stanza of the poem marks the first time that Owen employs the second person, by using the word “you.” He directly addresses and actively draws the reader into the poem. He also continues with his use of descriptive imagery by describing the man as having “white eyes writhing in his face.” As the man leaves life and enters death his eyes once full of expression now carry numbness and desensitization. Owen goes on to say that the soldiers have “innocent tongues” to further portray the injustice of soldiers killed in battle and the governments’ evil for allowing the war to continue. The last stanza, especially the ending, read as if it is a final plea to the reader. Owen says that if the reader were able to truly experience the horrors of fighting in battle, he or she would never promote or glorify war to the future generations. This plea represents a reworking of the title of the poem, which literally translates from Latin into “How sweet it is to die for your country.” If when reading the poem the reader interprets the title literally, by the end of the poem it is clear that Owen uses the title as a tool for making an ironic statement instead.

Throughout the poem the reader is shown vivid imagery describing war which can effectively fill one with anger, pity, sadness or even satisfaction that at least someone is speaking the truth. For me personally it makes me sad. “Dulce et Decorum est” is tragic. Owen speaking from first hand experience of a soldier sent to the front line, hurls pain in to the reader's face, causing the reader to feel both pity and guilt for the crimes of war.

Elizabeth Dougall

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