Dulce Et Decorum Est Imagery Essay
Why is imagery so important in Winfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”?
The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Winfred Owen was written from the perspective of experience, struggle and horror of the First World War. The poet makes a magnificent attempt to present the daily combat of each and every soldier in this vivid description of a particular event he witnessed himself. The poet used a considerable amount of literary devises to highlight the issue, express his opinion about the misguided attitude from the crowd and convince them that, to take part in any war is neither a glorious nor an honourable accomplishment.
The author started by challenging the reader with the title borrowed from the Ode III 2, by the ancient poet Horace (Wikipedia, …show more content…
Every word has been inserted carefully with the aim to portray the gruesomeness of war and to overturn the glory of combat. He begins with smiles ‘like beggars’ (l.1), ‘like hags’ (l.2) to portray soldiers, not the soldiers one would imagine: athletic, healthy but aged and ill looking. He continues with onomatopoeia ‘trudge’ (l. 4) by which he describes a slow journey back to the place of rest. The author insinuates that the troopers are extremely tired and have very little strength left so they no longer march but plod back. He then uses the metaphor ‘drunk with fatigue’ (l.7) to ensure the reader has no illusion on how exhausting the life on the battlefield is. Owen particularly inspires one with the abundance of imagery. He starts by describing the rush of fitting gas masks on ‘An ecstasy of fumbling, /Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;’ (l. 9-10) which starts building the very illustrative image in reader’s perception. The second portion of imagery the reader is dispensed with is the passage ‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning/In all my dreams, before my helpless sight’ (l.14-15) where he stimulates the reader’s sense of visual concept, he continues with the sense of hearing when he describes the scene of soldier gasping for breath of air ‘If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/Come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs’
The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Winfred Owen was written from the perspective of experience, struggle and horror of the First World War. The poet makes a magnificent attempt to present the daily combat of each and every soldier in this vivid description of a particular event he witnessed himself. The poet used a considerable amount of literary devises to highlight the issue, express his opinion about the misguided attitude from the crowd and convince them that, to take part in any war is neither a glorious nor an honourable accomplishment.
The author started by challenging the reader with the title borrowed from the Ode III 2, by the ancient poet Horace (Wikipedia, …show more content…
Every word has been inserted carefully with the aim to portray the gruesomeness of war and to overturn the glory of combat. He begins with smiles ‘like beggars’ (l.1), ‘like hags’ (l.2) to portray soldiers, not the soldiers one would imagine: athletic, healthy but aged and ill looking. He continues with onomatopoeia ‘trudge’ (l. 4) by which he describes a slow journey back to the place of rest. The author insinuates that the troopers are extremely tired and have very little strength left so they no longer march but plod back. He then uses the metaphor ‘drunk with fatigue’ (l.7) to ensure the reader has no illusion on how exhausting the life on the battlefield is. Owen particularly inspires one with the abundance of imagery. He starts by describing the rush of fitting gas masks on ‘An ecstasy of fumbling, /Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;’ (l. 9-10) which starts building the very illustrative image in reader’s perception. The second portion of imagery the reader is dispensed with is the passage ‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning/In all my dreams, before my helpless sight’ (l.14-15) where he stimulates the reader’s sense of visual concept, he continues with the sense of hearing when he describes the scene of soldier gasping for breath of air ‘If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/Come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs’