“Dulce et decorum Est” is a poem by Wilfred Owen who is a well renowned poet who is famous for his World War I poems. The poem leaves a lasting impression on the reader differently to most conventional war poetry as it does not speak of the great battles won and the almighty strong soldiers. The poem exposes the way the war stripped dignity and pride from the men. The poems structure begins by following the convention of a sonnet, a very rigid form of poetry. This irony of using a rigid and restrictive form while writing about something that is as unrestricted and chaotic as war makes for an interesting combination.
The poem centres on Wilfred Owen in a biographical manner. It talks about his experience of watching a man being killed by gas and his personal thoughts as to why he was killed. It seems directed at the reader of the poem but the anger throughout the poem is actually directed at the generals and the government for hiding the horrors of war from the general public and claiming it to be a victory.
The poem opens with the men bedraggled and tired walking back to the trenches for some rest.
“Men marched asleep, many had lost their boots”
This claim of men marching asleep is an ironic use of a military term that is generally used to describe strong young men who march towards their destination full of life. Many of the men had lost their boots which highlights to the reader how bad it was.
“All went lame, all blind”
The use of the word blind is a hyperbole which is an excellent word choice as well while making the reader imagine what it would be like walking back tired and ill as well being unable to see. This truly will create a sense of hardship, difficulty and incapacity.
The second stanza starts to talk about the use of gas. Gas was one of the scariest weapons in World War I even though it killed less than bayonets. This use of the gas in the poem leaves an