Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay

The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owens is about Great Britain's involvement in World War 2. This poem has graphic imagery that may be sensitive as it talks about the war in detail. The poem talks about a fleet of British soldiers being attacked. It explains in horror detail what was happening as the soldiers were attacked, in one of the soldier's perspective after the war was over. The soldiers marched with blood on their feet half asleep when gas grenades hit them and each soldier struggles to put on their gas masks. Some soldiers were not as fortunate as others as they were not able to put the masks on on time. The narrator/soldier describes one of his companions in war “ guttering, choking, drowning.” on the gas as he watches him, unable to help. The narrator then tells the reader that it is not glorious to be in war for your country. He explains that war is a terrible thing. He then says “To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est”. This poem uses consonance and assonance to add imagery that increase the reading experience for the reader and also furthers the poem's meaning that war …show more content…
The meaning in “Dulce et Decorum Est” is that war is not an honorable and glorious thing. Another poem with such uses of literary devices similar to this poem, is the poem “This is Just to Say”. Just in the title one can find a repeated “s” sound. This sound is in theory to mimic a snake as the poem also to popular belief speaks of the story in the bible about Adam and Eve in the garden eating the forbidden fruit. The author used these sound devices similar to the author of “Dulce et Decorum Est”. They both used sound devices to emphasize and further increase the reading experience. They both also use these sound devices to further increase the true meaning of their