What Is The Tone Of Dulce Et Decorum Est
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wifred Owen
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was written by Wifred Owen in early October 1917, and published in 1920. He wrote this poem whilst recovering from shell shock in the Craiglockhart War Hospital. The influences associated with the writing of the poem include Owen’s experiences in the trenches in World War 1, his changing attitudes to war and meeting fellow war poet, Siegfried Sassoon.
Owen felt pressured by the propaganda to become a soldier and volunteered on 21st October 1915. Within a week of signing up, he was on the front line, facing gas attacks, and soon understood the real meaning of war.
The title of the poem is ironic, as it suggests that the poem will be about a right and sweet side of the topic, when in reality, Owen is portraying the harsh reality of trench life. Owen describes through the poem the conditions faced by the …show more content…
soldiers at the front, giving a detailed account of what reality was like following a gas attack. Owen rejected the concept that serving your country in war is glorious. He saw war as brutal and a waste of young lives.
The poem is written in the first person, and in the present tense, which allows the reader to feel a part of what is happening. It is written from Owen’s first hand experience (however it is uncertain whether this is autobiographical or a fictional account based on his experiences). The first stanza begins in an unusual way; in the middle of an action scene, giving the impression that events such as ‘cursing through sludge’ were unexpected by the soldiers. The image of a muscular, healthy soldier is shattered as Owen paints a picture of ‘old beggars’, ‘coughing like hags’. This gives the impression that war has aged them prematurely, which may be a way in which Owen is showing how the war has aged his mind in a way that no other event could. At the start of the war (before the long-term habitation of the trenches), it is unlikely that Owen would have portrayed the military in this manner – he was a very skilled gunsman, suggesting that he may have taken interest in this part of the war. Most people would not want to portray their topic of interest as damaging or miserable, showing his vastly changing attitides to war.
There is a line in one of Siegfried Sassoon’s poems (‘Aftermath’), which reads: ‘[As you] peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men’. Sassoon is painting a similar picture to Owen – one of weary, disillusioned men, young men in the bodies of the elderly. ‘Like old hags’ is a phrase that seems directly linked to Sassoon’s influence; it is his poetic style of writing.
When the soldiers turned their backs on the ‘haunting flares’ and trudge towards their ‘distant rest’, Owen is showing the hopelessness of the whole situation; flares were used to illuminate a battlefield by the enemy in order to see a target, and by turning their backs on a threat, they were endangering themselves.
In a fighting situation today, that would never happen – it is incredibly dangerous and reckless to turn your back on opposing fire. However, he later states that these men are ‘marching asleep’, walking along as though they were in an altered state of consciousness, unaware of the war still raging on behind their turned backs. If this is true, then the ‘distant rest’ towards which they are heading may not be the barracks, but almost certain death which their maneuvers will lead to. In Sassoon’s ‘How to die’, he also manages to portray the soldiers as in the process of dying by describing their ‘sullen faces white as chalk’: death is a topic written about by Sassoon often, who may have encouraged Owen to use poetry to release his feelings about the deaths that he witnessed during the
war.
Owen introduces himself into the action in the poem in the second stanza when witnessing his comrade dying; possibly a representation of the destruction he witnessed, and the despondency often felt by soldiers (he didn’t enter the poem until the second stanza, and did not directly state his emotions at any point).
Overall, I think that there are numerous reasons for the writing of Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. His meeting with Sassoon may have influenced the darker, grim themes, while his experiences in the trenches would have enabled him to accurately portray the grim reality of life in the trenches. The stress on the discouraging of young soldiers-to-be originates from his changing attitudes to war
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was written by Wifred Owen in early October 1917, and published in 1920. He wrote this poem whilst recovering from shell shock in the Craiglockhart War Hospital. The influences associated with the writing of the poem include Owen’s experiences in the trenches in World War 1, his changing attitudes to war and meeting fellow war poet, Siegfried Sassoon.
Owen felt pressured by the propaganda to become a soldier and volunteered on 21st October 1915. Within a week of signing up, he was on the front line, facing gas attacks, and soon understood the real meaning of war.
The title of the poem is ironic, as it suggests that the poem will be about a right and sweet side of the topic, when in reality, Owen is portraying the harsh reality of trench life. Owen describes through the poem the conditions faced by the …show more content…
soldiers at the front, giving a detailed account of what reality was like following a gas attack. Owen rejected the concept that serving your country in war is glorious. He saw war as brutal and a waste of young lives.
The poem is written in the first person, and in the present tense, which allows the reader to feel a part of what is happening. It is written from Owen’s first hand experience (however it is uncertain whether this is autobiographical or a fictional account based on his experiences). The first stanza begins in an unusual way; in the middle of an action scene, giving the impression that events such as ‘cursing through sludge’ were unexpected by the soldiers. The image of a muscular, healthy soldier is shattered as Owen paints a picture of ‘old beggars’, ‘coughing like hags’. This gives the impression that war has aged them prematurely, which may be a way in which Owen is showing how the war has aged his mind in a way that no other event could. At the start of the war (before the long-term habitation of the trenches), it is unlikely that Owen would have portrayed the military in this manner – he was a very skilled gunsman, suggesting that he may have taken interest in this part of the war. Most people would not want to portray their topic of interest as damaging or miserable, showing his vastly changing attitides to war.
There is a line in one of Siegfried Sassoon’s poems (‘Aftermath’), which reads: ‘[As you] peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men’. Sassoon is painting a similar picture to Owen – one of weary, disillusioned men, young men in the bodies of the elderly. ‘Like old hags’ is a phrase that seems directly linked to Sassoon’s influence; it is his poetic style of writing.
When the soldiers turned their backs on the ‘haunting flares’ and trudge towards their ‘distant rest’, Owen is showing the hopelessness of the whole situation; flares were used to illuminate a battlefield by the enemy in order to see a target, and by turning their backs on a threat, they were endangering themselves.
In a fighting situation today, that would never happen – it is incredibly dangerous and reckless to turn your back on opposing fire. However, he later states that these men are ‘marching asleep’, walking along as though they were in an altered state of consciousness, unaware of the war still raging on behind their turned backs. If this is true, then the ‘distant rest’ towards which they are heading may not be the barracks, but almost certain death which their maneuvers will lead to. In Sassoon’s ‘How to die’, he also manages to portray the soldiers as in the process of dying by describing their ‘sullen faces white as chalk’: death is a topic written about by Sassoon often, who may have encouraged Owen to use poetry to release his feelings about the deaths that he witnessed during the
war.
Owen introduces himself into the action in the poem in the second stanza when witnessing his comrade dying; possibly a representation of the destruction he witnessed, and the despondency often felt by soldiers (he didn’t enter the poem until the second stanza, and did not directly state his emotions at any point).
Overall, I think that there are numerous reasons for the writing of Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. His meeting with Sassoon may have influenced the darker, grim themes, while his experiences in the trenches would have enabled him to accurately portray the grim reality of life in the trenches. The stress on the discouraging of young soldiers-to-be originates from his changing attitudes to war