Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay

There are some words that mean their own opposite. They are called contronyms. For example, cleave can mean either to bind together or to separate. When an alarm clock turns on, it is said to have gone off. Sanctions can be punishments or they can be authorizations. Glory can mean victory, such as in a war, but according to Wilfred Owen, in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est,” in no way should war be glorified. The title “Dulce et Decorum Est” comes from the second to last line of the poem, and is followed immediately by the only other line of the poem also written in Latin as opposed to English, “Pro patria mori” (lines 27-28). These lines translate into the phrase, “it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country.” For those who have not yet read the poem, this title may

The first, perfectly metered stanza focuses on the tired soldiers slowly marching toward an unknown end without urgency and without haste. The meter starts to disintegrate when the second stanza becomes excited and hectic. It is “An ecstasy of fumbling” (9), and while this happens, some lines are haphazardly shortened while others are lengthened. Then, scattered throughout the final stanza the consistency of the meter fails, but it becomes very noticeable on the closing line where Owen seems to disregard meter altogether. Perhaps this is done because of the importance of the Latin phrase that he chooses to exemplify such a falsehood about war. Rather than corrupt it with change, he opts to disregard the meter. Maybe cutting the meter short mimics and symbolizes the lives of the soldiers being cut short. Stopping the line so early certainly leaves the reader feeling unfinished and expecting more, in much the same way that any of those soldiers searching for sweetness, honor, or glory on the battlefield were unsatisfied with the results of their catastrophic