Wilfred Owen Case

“How sweet and honorable…”

In “Dulce Et Decorum Est” the poet uses set of powerful poetic devices to represent death in war, as cruel and horrifying experience. Alliteration serves to attraction of attention of the reader as expressed in: “And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,” which creates and sharply collide, the image in mind of the reader. Besides in “his hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin” through use comparison, the poet causes sympathies the respondent as they became witnesses’ grotesque character of such death. The name of a poem is ironic, Owen wished to throw war to the face of the reader to show, how mean and brutal it was. Intention was not so much to cause pity, but to shock people at home who trusted that war is noble and nice, but that struggle for the country of simply verdict of a lot of young men and unnecessary death.

Wilfred Owen uses many devices, but one of the first that is used in a poem is comparison. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” It allows to create an image where number of people, exhausted and are tired to the point that they can’t even stand. Other example is “flound'ring like a man on fire or lime.” This shows a man, probably poisoned by gas, but it seems like as if he runs around, trying to extinguish fire on himself.

The author also uses words that have definite negative connotations in order to give the reader a feeling of unease. Words used, such as “sludge,” “fatigue,” and “incurable,” all of these words have negative connotations. With this choice of words, Owen makes his poem sad and ugly. Those can’t seem to have any positive images or ideas.

On the battle field, what is seen, felt and heard isn’t fully comprehensible unless one experienced it first-hand. Owen’s writing, “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, vividly describes the horrid war that he was in. Owen begins his poem by placing the reader in the environment that he was in. Lines such as, “men marched asleep”, “coughing like hags”, “haunting flares” and