Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay
Comment on the language in ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’
Dulce et Decorum est is a dark poem which highlights the negative side of the war. Wilfred Owen, a very famous World War I poet, was really one of the soldiers who fought in the WWI. By this, he had firsthand experience on how war really was like. This led him to be able to write such poems just like this which were dark, real and told people how war really was like. Unlike other poems which make the war seem fun and enjoyable (such as ‘Who’s for the game?’ by Jessie Pope), it describes how dark, cruel and helpless war can be. Also, Dulce et Decorum Est especially contradicts the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum’ by G.R Glasgow, which once again is a poem which encourages people to join the war by telling them it was honourable and heroic to die for one’s country.
In this poem, Owen uses different kinds of techniques to emphasize the cruelty of the war. Often, he includes simile and metaphors to increase the impact on the readers or to exaggerate the situation – to make sure it was clear to everyone that the war was not honourable in any perspective. In the first line, the author introduces soldiers who are “like old beggars”. He uses simile and compares the soldiers to beggars, which makes the reader feel that these men are weak, vulnerable and …show more content…
fragile. Also, by comparing them to beggars, he also shows them that they are low classed and gets no respect, which hugely contradicts the idea of being a hero. The author gives this feeling to the reader once again when he states that these men were “coughing like hags”. By describing these men to the old women, Owen makes the reader feel that they are emasculated and less manly.
Author makes the gas bomb into “green sea”, when he describes what he sees when the gas bomb attacks them. The noun “sea” tells the reader that everywhere was covered with the bomb and also, it shows that it was terrifying, cold and nasty looking through the gas. The adjective “green” adds onto the misty and nasty feeling as it normally describes jealousy and resentment. He once again uses metaphor when he tells the reader how that soldier is “drowning” in the sea. This particular verb has a ‘d’ sound, which makes the verb feel more strong, aggressive and forceful. Also, it adds on to the feeling of being in the misty green sea.
By having a different tone for each paragraph, it also gives a huge impact to the reader.
The first paragraph is slow and steady as they “trudged” through, as if they did not even bother to walk properly and also as if they were sleep walking when he describes their action to marching “asleep”. However, in the second paragraph by using fast and loud verbs like “yelling”, “stumbling” and “flound’ring”, strong nouns like “fire” and “lime”, and punctuations like exclamation marks, tone suddenly changes into fast and hasty feeling. This usage of different tones reminds the reader that war is unexpected and anything can happen at any time, and also that it is very
dangerous. When the author illustrates the image of the soldier suffocating due to the gas bomb, he makes sure that readers get vivid descriptions. When he uses the verb “gargling” in order to describe the sound of blood travelling up his throat, it creates a very disturbing image of blood gushing out with bubbles. This description will reinforce how disturbing and scary the war really is.
Through out the poem, the poet also uses different narratives. He uses first person narrative voice for first and second paragraph, however changes to second person narrative voice for the last paragraph. Usage of first person narrative voice describes the war very closely and gives a vivid image to the reader. Also, it gives more sympathy towards the soldiers as the author keeps highlighting that it was them who saw things at that they were “helpless”. However, Owen not only tries to win sympathy from the reader but also tries to make a stronger impact on the reader by using second person narrative voice. This makes the reader feel that the author is directly talking to them.
Overall, we can see that the author, Wilfred Owen uses different techniques such as simile, metaphor, different tones and different narrative voice to give a strong negative image to the reader. Also, by using violent and obscene verbs like ‘writhing’ and ‘flung’, he also tries to tell the reader that soldiers in real wars are not the heroes that all men dream to be when they sign up to be one. I think this poem is one of the best poems that were written in WWI, as it describes the reality of war and that many innocent people died and suffered helplessly.
Dulce et Decorum est is a dark poem which highlights the negative side of the war. Wilfred Owen, a very famous World War I poet, was really one of the soldiers who fought in the WWI. By this, he had firsthand experience on how war really was like. This led him to be able to write such poems just like this which were dark, real and told people how war really was like. Unlike other poems which make the war seem fun and enjoyable (such as ‘Who’s for the game?’ by Jessie Pope), it describes how dark, cruel and helpless war can be. Also, Dulce et Decorum Est especially contradicts the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum’ by G.R Glasgow, which once again is a poem which encourages people to join the war by telling them it was honourable and heroic to die for one’s country.
In this poem, Owen uses different kinds of techniques to emphasize the cruelty of the war. Often, he includes simile and metaphors to increase the impact on the readers or to exaggerate the situation – to make sure it was clear to everyone that the war was not honourable in any perspective. In the first line, the author introduces soldiers who are “like old beggars”. He uses simile and compares the soldiers to beggars, which makes the reader feel that these men are weak, vulnerable and …show more content…
fragile. Also, by comparing them to beggars, he also shows them that they are low classed and gets no respect, which hugely contradicts the idea of being a hero. The author gives this feeling to the reader once again when he states that these men were “coughing like hags”. By describing these men to the old women, Owen makes the reader feel that they are emasculated and less manly.
Author makes the gas bomb into “green sea”, when he describes what he sees when the gas bomb attacks them. The noun “sea” tells the reader that everywhere was covered with the bomb and also, it shows that it was terrifying, cold and nasty looking through the gas. The adjective “green” adds onto the misty and nasty feeling as it normally describes jealousy and resentment. He once again uses metaphor when he tells the reader how that soldier is “drowning” in the sea. This particular verb has a ‘d’ sound, which makes the verb feel more strong, aggressive and forceful. Also, it adds on to the feeling of being in the misty green sea.
By having a different tone for each paragraph, it also gives a huge impact to the reader.
The first paragraph is slow and steady as they “trudged” through, as if they did not even bother to walk properly and also as if they were sleep walking when he describes their action to marching “asleep”. However, in the second paragraph by using fast and loud verbs like “yelling”, “stumbling” and “flound’ring”, strong nouns like “fire” and “lime”, and punctuations like exclamation marks, tone suddenly changes into fast and hasty feeling. This usage of different tones reminds the reader that war is unexpected and anything can happen at any time, and also that it is very
dangerous. When the author illustrates the image of the soldier suffocating due to the gas bomb, he makes sure that readers get vivid descriptions. When he uses the verb “gargling” in order to describe the sound of blood travelling up his throat, it creates a very disturbing image of blood gushing out with bubbles. This description will reinforce how disturbing and scary the war really is.
Through out the poem, the poet also uses different narratives. He uses first person narrative voice for first and second paragraph, however changes to second person narrative voice for the last paragraph. Usage of first person narrative voice describes the war very closely and gives a vivid image to the reader. Also, it gives more sympathy towards the soldiers as the author keeps highlighting that it was them who saw things at that they were “helpless”. However, Owen not only tries to win sympathy from the reader but also tries to make a stronger impact on the reader by using second person narrative voice. This makes the reader feel that the author is directly talking to them.
Overall, we can see that the author, Wilfred Owen uses different techniques such as simile, metaphor, different tones and different narrative voice to give a strong negative image to the reader. Also, by using violent and obscene verbs like ‘writhing’ and ‘flung’, he also tries to tell the reader that soldiers in real wars are not the heroes that all men dream to be when they sign up to be one. I think this poem is one of the best poems that were written in WWI, as it describes the reality of war and that many innocent people died and suffered helplessly.