The Trepidation that War Brings

A Critical analysis of Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum est'

An eye opening poem about war written by Wilfred Owen who was a soldier and died in a War.
he presents his thoughts in this famous poem.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas!Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen 8 October 1917 - March, 1918

Wilfred Owen's poem 'Dulce et Decorem est,' presents a very terrifying yet realistic picture of war. In the poem, Owen himself is the speaker and he narrates the revolting death of one of his fellow soldiers. The diction in the poem creates very realistic portraits of misery, fear and death. The images of fear, misery and death created in the poem 'Dulce et Decorem Est' reveal a compelling anti-war theme.
In the first verse of the poem Owen introduces the reader to the miserable lives of the soldiers. An image of an old sickly beggar is created to represent the soldiers' appearance. The first two lines of the poem develops this image as Owen writes "Bent double , like old beggars under sacks...we cursed through sludge". One must keep in mind that these soldiers now appearing to be 'sickly old beggars' are, in fact young men. these lines present the shocking reality of the misery that war has bestowed upon the soldiers. Furthermore, the fatigue and utter hopelessness revealed in the phrases 'trudge', 'limped on', 'all went lame; all blind' , and 'drunk with fatigue' awakens the reader to the deplorable state of the men that is caused by the war.

In the second verse of the poem the mood changes from fatigue to confusion, which then breeds fear. A gas attack is launched on the soldiers and they struggle to get their masks on in time. Owen's use of the continuous tense here snares the reader into the scene, giving a vivid description of confusion with the words 'fumbling',' yelling',' flound'ring' and 'drowning'. We can see the fear in this chaos as Owen says '...flound'ring like a man on fire or lime...,' this simile allows the reader to relate to the fear that the soldiers experienced when they were attacked and it provokes the reader to question the justification of war.

A horrendous image of death is presented in the poem. Once again we notice the use of the continuous tense to imprison the reader in the scene of a soldier's painful and grotesque death. A hideous image of the dying soldier is created in the ghastly appearance of the dying man and the torture that he suffers at the time of death. The imagery here is very forceful as Owen writes "...white eyes writhing in his face," and "...the blood came gargling from the froth corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer..." These vivid images created here are enough to open the eyes of any reader to the plight of the dying soldier and draw compassion for him.

Owen uses these images to enforce his anti-war theme as he states in his final lines, "My friend, you would not tell with such zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori." The line "Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori" is a Latin phrase and translates to 'it is sweet and honorable to die for the father land'. The reader can now clearly see that the horrid death of the soldier was by no means 'sweet' and the 'honor' derived from his dying is questionable.

This poem very realistically exposes the trepidations that war brings to the lives of the soldiers involved. The misery, fear and horrific death portrayed in the poem quite forcefully create an anti-war theme as the naive reader is now given this ghastly picture of death and misery. One begins to question whether they themselves would be willing to suffer any of the circumstances revealed in this poem or if they would allow their children to suffer it. The irony in the title 'dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori,' contrasts sharply with the events and illustrations presented in the poem revealing the bitter and appalling circumstances that warrants one to once again question the justifications and reasons for war.