FREE ESSAY ON DULCE ET DECORUM EST

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Reality
"Dulce et Decorum Est," an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen, ( ) conveys a strong meaning
and persuasive argument. The anti-war theme and serious tone is extremely effective at
portraying war as horrid and devastating. Upon my initial reading of this poem I felt
overpowered by blood, guts and death. Although my reaction hasn't changed much through
numerous readings, my emotional reaction becomes more intense with each reading. This
poem makes me feel like I am right there watching the soldier who cannot fasten his mask
fast enough and suffers the full effects of deadly gas. This poem also makes me look
beyond the death and question the pain inflicted on the mothers who kissed their sons
goodbye as they went to defend their country. I imagine the mother receiving word her son
has died and is told how noble and patriotic his death was. In his last moments, the
soldier and his family become victims of "The old lie" (610). The precise dictation,
vivid comparisons and graphic imagery are the three major elements that influenced my
reaction to this poem.
Through the precise dictation, I could clearly understand what the author is saying.
Words like "guttering", "choking", and "drowning" jumped out at me and made my body
shiver (610). Other words like "writhing" and "froth-corrupted" made me understand just
how tragic war is. Not only do these words show how this man is suffering, but also they
show precisely the level of pain and torment this man must endure. The fact that the
gassed man was "flung" into the wagon convinced me that it is not "sweet" nor "fitting to
die for one's country" (610). The author's use of dictation was extremely effective in
convincing me of just tragic and pointless war is.
In addition to dictation, the author's use of metaphor and similes also influenced my
reaction to this poem. In the first line the author describes the troops as being "Bent
double, like beggars under sacks"(610). This simile expresses the condition of the men
and reinforces the hopelessness they feel. The author's comparison of the dyeing man's
"hanging face" to a "devil's sick of sin" dramatizes just how corrupt it all seems. The
most powerful simile is when the author compares the sound of the gassed man gurgling
blood in is lungs as "obscene as cancer" (610). The most effective metaphor is the "vile,
incurable sores" that the author compares to the troop's memories. This metaphor
illustrates how the troops will never forget this experience. This pain will forever be
with them. The author clears up any misconception that war is noble and convinces me that
his beliefs are true. 
More effectively than metaphors and similes, the graphic imagery that this poem explodes
with drastically influenced my reaction to this poem. Some of the images in this poem
nearly made me feel nauseas. The images I experienced in the readings of this poem could
never be forgotten, especially when I take my three sons to register with Selective
Services. My emotional and physical reaction reinforces how effective the author's use of
imagery is in this poem. The image of the troops "drunk with fatigue" and deaf to the
"gas-shells dropping softly behind" is a chilling image (610). As someone yells "Gas" it
is an "ecstasy of fumbling" and one is still "flound'ring like a man on fire" (610).
Through the "thick green light, as under a sea" the speaker sees the man drowning and
describes the "gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs" (610). Each of these images are
disturbing to think about, but exposes the reality of war. These images made me feel
disgusted at what war is capable of.
The author ties this poem together in the last line. In Latin, the phrase "Dulce et
decorum est" means "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country"(610). The author
calls the phrase "the big lie" (610). Although there are countless elements, dictation,
vivid comparisons and imagery, are the elements that persuaded and moved me emotionally
and intellectually. Even though I recognize deadly gasses are generally not used in war
anymore, I will never react the same to the billboards or commercials saying, " Be all
you can be in the Army".