Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

The elegy, "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen is a poem with great emotion, vivid imagery and compelling similes. This captivating and unique work of literature demonstrates the poet's skill and manipulation of mechanical and emotional parts of poetry that persuasively conveys the main theme and argument of the poem. The topic of "Dulce et Decorum Est" is the destruction created by war and its physical and emotional effects on the troops. The elegy takes place during World War One, at a time when poisonous gas was used which made lung tissue open and in effect drowned a person. This war poem includes the literary devices imagery and simile which help to convey the horrors of war and the theme of the military and veterans marketing the fighting in war as a heroic act of sacrifice when in truth it is not.

An important literary device in this poem is imagery. Sensory imagery is employed throughout the elegy and is a technique used to convey the main argument of the poem to youth that enroll in war. Diction is employed by the poet to create more effective imagery. The vivid descriptions allow the poet to paint clear images of broken men and destruction that result from war. The initial lines of "Dulce et Decorum Est" describe exhausted, bloody and damaged men who must continue fighting despite having been on their feet for days. The audience can understand their trouble when the troops "cursed through sludge" and "marched asleep" (ll. 2,5). In addition, the imagery in the poem describes further horrors that occur in war when it is mentioned that all soldiers "went lame, all blind;/ drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots" (ll.6-7). The extent to which the troops were terrified of the poisonous gas is portrayed when the poet describes their "ecstasy of fumbling," meaning the soldiers are in a state beyond reason and self control due to the alarm that the gas instills in them (l. 9). In addition to the mental pictures of the happenings of war, imagery in this poem also establishes the scents and sounds of war. Through the description of the scent, sight and sounds of the soldier dying from poisonous gas, the vile effects of it are conveyed and the audience learns of another horror of war through sensory imagery. The poet comments that if one "could hear, at every jolt, the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, / Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud," the youth enrolling for war would not have "such high zest" (ll. 21-23, 25). The poet is presenting his argument in these lines by describing the dying soldier, with graphic and sensory imagery, so as to present this evil of war to the youth. In turn, imagery, a reoccurring literary device in this poem, is employed to depict the horrors and evils of war with strong emotion and clarity.

The imagery in "Dulce et Decorum Est" contributes to the theme of the poem. The theme of the poem is that the military and veterans market the fighting in war as a heroic act of sacrifice when in truth it is not. The poet crafts the poem in a unique way that presents the theme persuasively. For the first twenty-four lines of "Dulce et Decorum Est" an intense and vivid description of the horrors of war are depicted, creating mental images of broken and bloody soldiers fighting in a gruesome war; the audience is able to experience this war and feel the suffering of the troops. As the end of the poem approaches, the poet narrates that one would not describe the horrific war with keen enjoyment to children,