Poetry Explication on Dulce Et Decorum Est
Explication of “Dulce et Decorm Est”
“Dulce et Decorum Est” was written by Wilfred Owen and published in 1920 after his death. The title is Latin, taken from the Roman poet Horace; it means that it is sweet and proper. The poem contains four stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ababcdcd. The scansion is iambic pentameter. The poem is about a soldier recanting his experience on the battlefield and the resulting nightmares. The poem is the speaker’s struggle with the physical pain and the psychological trauma of war, which he is utilizing to convey battlefield conditions and the experience of modern warfare.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker is describing the soldier’s physical shape. He uses a simile to paint a picture to civilians at home what the soldier on the front line looks like: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” In the second line, he uses another simile to make sure that the subject truly gets the picture: “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags.” He also makes a reference to the conditions of trench warfare when he remarks, “we curse through sludge.” These solders are physically tired and ill.
In the next line, the speaker is telling the listener that the soldiers are leaving the front line: “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs.” The speaker then describes the journey and that the rest they are heading toward is far away: “And towards our distant rest begin to trudge.” This could be that the speaker is saying that there is really no rest from war. The use of the word “trudge” is another reference to trench warfare. These lines are describing that the soldiers are overtired, and the thought of having to walk to the resting area makes them even more tired.
In lines five and six, the speaker is trying to describe the physical exhaustion in a way that people back home can understand: “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind.” Again, the speaker is trying to describe the physical
“Dulce et Decorum Est” was written by Wilfred Owen and published in 1920 after his death. The title is Latin, taken from the Roman poet Horace; it means that it is sweet and proper. The poem contains four stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ababcdcd. The scansion is iambic pentameter. The poem is about a soldier recanting his experience on the battlefield and the resulting nightmares. The poem is the speaker’s struggle with the physical pain and the psychological trauma of war, which he is utilizing to convey battlefield conditions and the experience of modern warfare.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker is describing the soldier’s physical shape. He uses a simile to paint a picture to civilians at home what the soldier on the front line looks like: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” In the second line, he uses another simile to make sure that the subject truly gets the picture: “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags.” He also makes a reference to the conditions of trench warfare when he remarks, “we curse through sludge.” These solders are physically tired and ill.
In the next line, the speaker is telling the listener that the soldiers are leaving the front line: “Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs.” The speaker then describes the journey and that the rest they are heading toward is far away: “And towards our distant rest begin to trudge.” This could be that the speaker is saying that there is really no rest from war. The use of the word “trudge” is another reference to trench warfare. These lines are describing that the soldiers are overtired, and the thought of having to walk to the resting area makes them even more tired.
In lines five and six, the speaker is trying to describe the physical exhaustion in a way that people back home can understand: “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind.” Again, the speaker is trying to describe the physical
Cited: Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th edition. New York: Pearson, 2013. 709-710. Print.