Dulce et Decorum est

Dulce et Decorum est

The poet reacts to the war by turning normal poetic language in to

something that appears normal on the surface but in reality is

tainted. The poet also breaks from normal poetry to show society the

normal images of war. The ability to move the reader makes the poem

work which aids the reader in to understanding the false propaganda.

The poem is about soldiers in trench warfare and is a great example of

writing graphically to show the horrific side of war yet being

completely truthful. The poet does not withhold any information from

the reader and conveys what it was like to fight in the War.

The poet shows the pain in the poem. His tone, depression, lack of

hope reveals his message. He uses long sentences and metaphor to show

the tires soldiers. Picturing ‘old beggar under sacks’ tells us what

war has done to them. It also tells us they are battle weary and

scared of what is ahead of them. The use of similes in the first

stanza allows the reader to understand the anguish of war. The poet is

able to use words the words to paint a vivid and terrifying picture of

trench warfare in the mind of the reader. The Hags is connected with

the word beggers as they both outcasts in society. What's more words

like beggers, hags and blood-shod shows what the war has done to the

soldiers of war.. Through his use of vivid words and portrayal it

makes us understand the effects of war and what it involves. The

Stanza continues ‘Till on the haunting flares’, this suggests that the

soldiers are possibly disturbed and are being haunted by the flares.

The last line further shows the effects of war, the soldiers are deaf

to the gas shells dropping right behind them.

In the second stanza the poem begin...

... middle of paper ...

...ers were once the ‘children ardent

for some desperate glory.’ ‘Children’ here is used as the same reason

as ‘boys’, who were brainwashed in to sacrificing their lives. The

innocent are willing to believe in the lie about the war, but the war

was totally different first hand hence the anger towards those who

propagated dying for your country in being noble.

‘The old Lie’ the poet users a capital ‘L’ in lie. This puts the war

in perspective of being glorious and patriotic. The readers attention

does not wonder during the poem because of the poets consistent

imagery. By the end of the poem the reader can fully appreciate the

irony between the truth of what happens at the Trenches and the lie

being told at home. The whole poem is contradictory to what was being

spread with ‘Dulce et Decorum est.’

(It is a sweet and glorious thing to die for your country.)