Wilfred Owen 'Dulce et decorum est'.

Dulce et decorum est In this poem, by Wilfred Owen 'Dulce et decorum est' Owen was attempting to across the full horror of the First World War. In great detail get he describes a soldier suffering and dying in a gas attack. The poem is written from the point of view of an eyewitness who was there before during and after the attack. Owen finishes by asking the reader to tell their children the truth about the war and not the 'old lie' that it is sweet and fitting to die for your country, 'Dulce et decorum est pro pratria mori'. In the poem 'dulce et decorum est' (which means it is sweet and fitting) The poem is narrative and in sections. The first section is the men going to rest the second is .the gas attack in the trenches. The third is the man having bad dreams to do with the incident. The fourth is explaining if you had seen what he had seen you would not want to tell your children of these awful conditions. The rhyme scheme goes ABABCDCDEFEF I did not notice this at first, this is very good poetry and the words are well thought out. The similes in this poem are very good 'flound'ring like a man in fire or lime' this means the man was going all over the place and it was like he was on fire. There are also a lot of metaphors 'Men marched asleep' this is because the men were so tired it looked as though they were asleep. This poem has got a very sad, dark and somber feel

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  • Word count: 849
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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