Dulce et Decorum Est

This poem by Wilfred Owen is filled with imagery.

The scene of the poem is one of soldiers walking along the battlefield before being attacked by
poison gas. The poem describes a soldier being thrown back onto a wagon, where he dies
because he did not get his helmet on in time.
The scene is described with incredible imagery. The speaker speaks bitterly against the message
that it is honorable to die for ones country. The title represents his mockery of that message.

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori is a line from Roman Lyrical poet Horaces and it roughly
translates into It is proper to die for ones country. Owen clearly writes about his disagreement
in this poem. The poem begins rather calmly, without too much of a threat of danger. Owen
describes the symptoms of his fellow men, and the trudging through the battlefield.
The second verse changes the tone of the poem into one of danger and excitement. The
punctuation accents the way the reader should be feeling. His use of exclamation points and
uppercase vs lowercase letters in the first line indicates that the tone.
Ex:Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!An ecstasy of fumbling

His poem is written in two sonnets. 14 lines each, both with different line format. In his first
sonnet, he is in the present, as though it is all happening as he writes. However, in his second
sonnet, its as though hes watching the scene unfold as he contemplates whats going on.
His rhyme scheme is traditional, in an ABAB format. He follows the iambic pentameter,
however deviates from the format several times. It is a lyric poem with irregular verse length.
He uses quite a few powerful similes in his poem. The image people had of soldiers were strong,
proud men in uniform fighting for their country. What Owen does in this poem is completely
change the idea of the soldiers in the publics eyes.
ex: Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
He is stripping away the image of strength and pride, and leaving in its place the image of tired,
downtrodden men in battle. His most used literary devices are similes, and imagery.
He uses repetition in the first sonnet to emphasize the death of the soldier.
ex: He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

The poem is not one that rolls easily off ones tongue. Its a strange rhythm, with a regular
rhyming scheme. Its one of the strongest poems written by Wilfred Owen, and allowed to world
to see the war from a soldiers perspective.