The important issue of war is Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Essay Example for Free

The important cater of war is Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen EssayChoose a numbers which deals with an important issue such as war poverty or racism. Explain how the poet deepens out understanding of the issue by the choice of content and the skilful use of poetic techniques.A poem which deals with the important issue of war is Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. The poet scratch line went to the war on 30th of December 1916. He had already completed his military teach and sailed for France. Nothing had fully prepared Owen for the shock and suffering of his front line experience. I have said that he went to the war, because if we know this, we would understand better wherefore this poem seems so real as it reflects the brutal reality and the atmosphere of wars.In the first stanza, Owen gives a vicious and grand image of war. He conveys this by describing the dreadful conditions of soldiers at war and sets a weary toneBent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock- kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through droppingsThis horrendous description of the soldiers makes us feel almost pitiful towards the. The word beggars has connotations of desperation and lack of dignity suggesting that the soldiers are stark contrast to the brave heroic image of soldiers that we have. These soldiers are forgotten and are almost like outcasts of society and this is described here. The poet uses similes such as coughing like hags to emphasise their pitiful and unwell state. The use of cursed as a verb here suggests that they are worn down from the constant battle and they are regretting being there. This helps us to understand the issue of war by highlighting the appalling conditions of soldiers at war. The reader is given a very fatigued and desperate image of the soldiers. Owen uses enjambment to emphasise the fatigue of the soldiersAll went lame all blindDrunk with fatigue deaf even to the hootsOf tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behindOwen show s how these mens senses had been numbed by the ghastly occurrences in the trenches and how these numbed senses cause the men to not realise they are under attack until it is almost too late. He uses metaphors to emphasise how tired they are and they cannot even hear the shells which is surprising as we would extend the bombs to be fairly loud. He uses the transferred epithet of tired, outstripped Five-Nines to show how the war is so draining and eitherone is tired of the war. The images in this sentence help us to understand the touching of being at war and show the arduous environment of the soldiers. In the next stanza there is as rapid change from the tired tone of the first stanza to one of panic. Owen uses minor sentences to change the paceGas Gas Quick, boys An ecstasy of fumblingFitting the clumsy helmets just in timeSuddenly every one springs to life and the scene is chaotic. Owen emphasises this by using the minor sentences in succession giving a dramatic change of atmo sphere. A sense of immediate apprehension and urgency is evident here and the transferred epithet of clumsy helmets shows that in the sudden rush even the helmets seem clumsy. Furthermore, there is a change in troll from the iambic pentameter of the first stanza into one of chaos almost symbolising the atmosphere of the trench. Our understanding of the urgency of war is deepened here and the reader is given insight into how tempestuous the soldiers lives are. The poet uses imagery to illustrate his memories. The man being choked to death by the gas is almost in slow motion as the event fleetBut somebody still was scream out and stumblingAs under a green sea, I saw him drowning.This whole sequence of events is described by Owen in great detail showing that the images of the mans pain seem fresh in Owens mind showing and that they have emotionally scarred him and he will never be able to forget seeing this soldier dying. The word someone shows the anonymity of the soldiers and e mphasises how many soldiers are barely forgotten. But shows that not everyone was able to fit their helmet in time and the soldier was too late and is seen only through the green sea of mustard gas, yelling stumblingdrowninggutteringchoking. The word order of someone still was is changed to highlight the chaos of the situation. The reader is shown how horrendous deaths in the war can be and how scarring the effect of seeing someones slow death can be on a person. The third stanza is written in present tense to show the effect that the soldiers death has had on Owen. The stanza almost has a nightmarish qualityIn all my dreams before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.From all it is clear that Owen has a recur nightmare of the mans death and his seeing his last moments has traumatized him. The poet shows that he was helpless despite the soldiers pleas for help. The transferred epithet of helpless sight shows that Owen could solely witness the mans death and was powerless in stopping the gas. The listed verbs are associated with a lack of air and death and the hard consonants almost realise the mans dying moments. The final stanza is addressed to the advocates of war. Owen describes the horrific image of the mans body and addresses the reader directlyBehind the wagon that we flung him in.And determine the white eyes writhing in his faceThe poet is almost asking the reader to be empathetic towards the soldiers in this sentence. The word flung shows a lack of bang and respect and emphasises the anonymity of the soldier. The language used in the sections depicting the gas attack is strong, representing both the suffering of the victims of the gas attack as well as the effect on those haunted by what they have seen. The repetition of the word face makes it clear which part disturbs the poet most. The use of alliteration on the w speech sound reflects the agonised twisting of the gas victim. The poet also makes it clear how it is unf air on these young boys and how they are innocent. Owen highlights the severity and lasting effect of war and wildness on the soldiers and this helps the reader to understand what happens at war and the effect of war. Owen ends the poem with a Latin expression taken from the odes of the roman poet HoraceTo children ardent for some desperate gloryThe old lie Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.The fact that the war recruits are only children makes the reader question the justification of sending people to war. The poet is dictum that the men only go into war to be war heroes, yet, they are forgotten and forced through horrendous conditions. Throughout the poem there has been close to ten syllables per line and the last line has only six and I think that the missed beats give the reader time to think most the poem as a whole. The Latin used at the end of the poem means It is sweet and honourable to die for your country, a concept Owen is powerfully denying throughout the poem.Dulc e et Decorum Est is a poem which gives a very insightful and realistic view of war. I think that Wilfred Owen did not use the full excogitate Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori in order to allow the reader to decide for oneself whether they agreed or disagreed with him in the end.