The Hero Of War In Dulce Et Decorum Est

     The irony in the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is that it is not sweet and fitting to die for one’s country when you have actually experienced war. Owen is describing how psychologically and physically exhausting World War I was for the soldiers that had to tolerate such a cruel suffering and not how patriotic and honorable it was. It shows the true life of a soldier, lying low, ill, endlessly marching through mud with bloody

The poems “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Dulce ET Decorum EST” are war poems. They reflect on two different but equally harrowing events, however the poets portray these events using their own style and the and result is two entirely different views of war.

From the earliest records of history, accounts of war have been portrayed as valiant acts of heroism. Children and adults alike have gathered together to hear tales of war and its glory. From the stories of Alexander the Great to recent-day movies like Saving Private Ryan, war has been praised and exalted with words such as bravery, honor, and freedom. However, Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" shows the ugly, horrible side of fighting. By use of gripping words and vivid descriptions, Owen paints incredible pictures of what World War I was really like. He tears away the glory and drama and reveals the real essence of fighting: fear, torture, and death. No

Wilfred Owen is almost begging someone (probably the ones who recruit the youth) to tell the world the truth about war, how tarrying everyone is and how difficult is to go on, to keep the hope. For the soldiers there are no dreams of a noble death that everyone will remember through stories. There are no legends that will become myth in their fighting, but real people and real horrific death. The concept of “heroism” that exists from classical literature is not longer valid.

In Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” the speaker’s argument against whether there is true honor in dieing for ones country in World War I contradicts the old Latin saying, Dulce et Decorum Est, which translated means, “it is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland”; which is exemplified through Owen’s use of title, diction, metaphor and simile, imagery, and structure throughout the entirety of the poem.

One is to think of war as one of the most honorable and noble services that a man can attend to for his country, it is seen as one of the most heroic ways to die for the best cause. The idea of this is stripped down and made a complete mockery of throughout both of Wilfred Owen’s poems “Dulce Et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. Through his use of quickly shifting tones, horrific descriptive and emotive language and paradoxical metaphors, Owen contradicts the use of war and amount of glamour given towards the idea of it.

By creating these nurturing, peaceful images of a beautiful countryside, Brooke evokes pride from his primary audience, which in turn creates a sense of nationalism. Furthermore, references to the themes of heaven and the afterlife create comforting images in the reader’s mind. Brooke describes a ‘pulse in the eternal mind’ for the ‘hearts at peace under an English heaven’, suggesting that those who die fighting for their country will find themselves in a heaven as idyllic as England. The paradisiacal images created by Brooke are a stark contrast to the gruesome images featured in Owen’s poem. Dulce et Decorum est is rich in similes that graphically illustrate the goriest details of war. The soldiers in the poem are described as ‘old beggars’ who are ‘coughing like hags’, which illustrates a loss of dignity, health and the innocence associated with youth. As the poem progresses, a soldier is the victim of a gas attack and is described vividly, with ‘white eyes, writhing in his face’ as ‘blood comes gargling from his froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer’. Owen’s dark subject matter is further explored through his juxtaposition of ‘children ardent for desperate glory’ and soldiers marching like ‘beggars under sacks’. The use of these similes and images shocks the reader and conveys the ruthless reality of war.

Throughout both writings, “War is Kind” and “Dulce et Decorum Est”, imagery is demonstrated to protest war. The author of “War is Kind” states, “Do not weep. War is kind.”. This line in the first stanza uses imagery to protest war by trying to display the soldiers loved ones reacting to the news of the soldier they love, losing their life. How is this imagery? This line portrays a wife, a child, and a mother losing their loved ones. Also, in the second stanza, it states “These men were born to drill and die”, that particular line displays that the soldiers were only born to fight in war, that was what the men were born to do and that was their main purpose in their life. In stanza two of “Dulce et Decorum Est” imagery is used to protest war when it states, “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.” This supports the idea that

The first verse of Charge Of The Light Brigade portrays the soldiers as strong, willing, noble men; ready to ride into “the valley of Death” whereas Dulce Et Decorum Est portrays the soldiers as struggling, exhausted and fatigued. Alfred Lord Tennyson illustrates the same idea of honour and nobility throughout his poem in contrast to Wilfred Owen’s poem which discusses fear and sorrow amongst other emotions.

First, Owen uses logos to explain the horrible experience in WWI. The tile of this poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” means, it is honorable and sweet to die for own country, (Poetry Foundation), but the experience was too depressing. Owen uses the stanza like "But someone still was yelling…… man in fire or lime”, the ones who weren’t able to rich out their mask were choking and stumbling from toxic gas. Plus, a gas was all they needed to wipe out the field. (line 11,12) In line 5 and 6 he says, “Men marched asleep”, right before the gas blew off, some solders were men were sleep, as other limped their bloody feet as they lost their boots in battle

As an anti-war poet, Wilfred Owen uses his literary skills to express his perspective on human conflict and the wastage involved with war, the horrors of war, and its negative effects and outcomes. As a young man involved in the war himself, Owen obtained personal objectivity of the dehumanisation of young people during the war, as well as the false glorification that the world has been influenced to deliver to them. These very ideas can be seen in poems such as 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and 'Dulce ET Decorum EST Pro Patria Mori'. Owen uses a variety of literary techniques to convey his ideas.

Wilfred Owen, through his poems, shows the harsh reality of human conflict and contrasts the portrayal of these conflicts with the reality. Owen purpose is to challenges our thoughts and perspectives on war to show its true effects and stop the glorification that it receives in society. This can be seen in his poem Dulce et Decorum Est as he causing us to question whether it really is sweet and decorous to die for ones country by showing the reality of war through his personal experiences. These views can also be seen in the poem Anthem for Doomed Youth as Owen portrays the treatment the dead soldiers are receiving contrasted with the treatment a normal desist civilian would receive. This help to give the forgotten

fairy tale or a happy tale of love but is a distressing poem about the

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen are two poems which were written during the First World War, and both being written about this conflict, they share the same theme of war poetry. However, the two poems deal very differently with the subject of war, resulting in two very different pieces of writing.

The saying, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” was once believed; it means that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. Because Wilfred Owen knew the horrors, he opposes this saying in his poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” The narrator provides vivid images of his experience in WWI which includes both the exhaustion the soldiers endured while walking to their next resting point and of the death of a fellow soldier due to gas. His PTSD shows us that the gas experience continues to haunt him: “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning,” (ll.15-16). The narrator also explains why young men should reconsider joining a war if given the opportunity; it is not worth the horror. The war leaves, “incurable sores on innocent tongues,” (l.24), due to the overbearing evils war brings, leaving soldiers faces’, “like a devil’s sick of sin,” (l.20). Ironically, war is too much sin for the devil. The narrator emphasizes the vulgarity of a war, “Obscene as cancer, bitter as cud,” (l.23). Owen ultimately maintains that it is not glorious dying for one’s country because of the many horrors.