‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is a poem written by Wilfred Owen during World War 1. The title of the poem literally means “it is sweet and proper”. The theme of this poem is patriotism because through the use of propaganda, people felt more patriotic and were happy to die for their country. Owen used a lot of language techniques to effectively convey his message to the readers. Here are the language techniques that he used in this poem and its supporting evidence:
Rhetoric
Words like “guttering”, “choking”, and “drowning” not only show how the man is suffering, but that he is in terrible pain that no human being should experience.
In the third stanza, Owen states the gassed man was “flung” into the wagon, revealing the importance with war. All …show more content…
The language technique that he used for this line was imagery. Owen wants us to imagine what life was like in the trenches. He wants us to see the reality of dying in such a place. Owen used specific words to describe the men’s condition which are “asleep”, “lost”, “blood-shod”, “lame”, “blind”, and “drunk”. These are not words to describe heroic, strong and energetic men. Owen uses these words to show the effects of war on even the strongest of men. These words describe men who are broken by war.
The first line of the second stanza, “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!”, makes the poem more urgent as the soldiers come under the gas attack and tried to put on their masks before they choke. For the last two lines of this stanza, “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”, Owen used a strong simile of the sea to describe the gas. He also showed that the troops were torn out of their horrific walk and surrounded by gas.
Owen describes a dead man as his body was thrown on a wagon piled with other dead soldiers in the third
Rhetoric
Words like “guttering”, “choking”, and “drowning” not only show how the man is suffering, but that he is in terrible pain that no human being should experience.
In the third stanza, Owen states the gassed man was “flung” into the wagon, revealing the importance with war. All …show more content…
The language technique that he used for this line was imagery. Owen wants us to imagine what life was like in the trenches. He wants us to see the reality of dying in such a place. Owen used specific words to describe the men’s condition which are “asleep”, “lost”, “blood-shod”, “lame”, “blind”, and “drunk”. These are not words to describe heroic, strong and energetic men. Owen uses these words to show the effects of war on even the strongest of men. These words describe men who are broken by war.
The first line of the second stanza, “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!”, makes the poem more urgent as the soldiers come under the gas attack and tried to put on their masks before they choke. For the last two lines of this stanza, “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”, Owen used a strong simile of the sea to describe the gas. He also showed that the troops were torn out of their horrific walk and surrounded by gas.
Owen describes a dead man as his body was thrown on a wagon piled with other dead soldiers in the third