Dulce Et Decorum Est By Wilfred Owen: Poem Analysis

There are aspects of war that one cannot understand if they never witness it. The lack of connection with soldiers on the battlefield only fuel citizens who want to fight. Wilfred Owen’s poems paint a picture of being on the field to people who do not have this experience. He describes the emotions, thoughts, and struggles of living in the combat zone.

In Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred portrays a group of weak soldiers trekking along the horrendous conditions of their trench. . Through the use of metaphors, Owen describes how nothing about war is glorious. Men struggle to stay awake from fatigue and wither away from the ongoing battle. They trudge through mud without boots only to have their blood in replace. “Men Marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of tired.” (Owen, 1920/2007, p. 1167)

Life for the soldiers only gets worse when Wilfred depicts a gas attack. Through his use of description Wilfred Owen develops the idea that war is a nightmare and these men on the field live it. He describes the gas attack as a deadly green fog ready to engulf the men’s lungs. The description continues as Wilfred manages to put on his mask before drowning in the lethal gas. Then witnesses an unfortunate solider die in agonizing because he

Wilfred Owen uses personification to describe war is built on a church of death. The only ceremony taking place involve angry rifles that fire at each other. Shrieking artillery fall from the sky and screech like possessed choirs. All together these weapons slaughter men like cows on the battlefield without notice. “There are no prayers or bells. Nor is there any voice of mourning. On the battlefield, the only observance of death is the choirs of shells that wail, just as a mourner might wail in grief at a funeral.” (Overview: "Anthem for Doomed Youth", 2011,