Poetry Appreciation Essay – ‘Dulce et Decorum est’

The poem is in first person where the poet is part of the war; it is a mix of narrative, descriptive and personal beliefs.

At the begging of the first verse, Owen sets the scene by describing how two injured soldiers are helping each other through the battle field.

‘Bent double like old beggars under sacks.’

They are weak and exhausted, comparable to old women.

The poet describes the unreasonable expectations of the fighting men, how they lost their boots and had to limp bare-foot through the battle grounds.

There are also a couple of onomatopoeias like ‘hoots’ and ‘gargling’.

To start the second verse, a series of short one syllable words with exclamation marks are used, this shows the urgency.

Some topics in this essay:
Gas Quick, , Wilfred Owen, battle field, et decorum est, dulce et decorum, decorum est, lost boots, ‘coughing hags’, isn’t glorious, dulce et, et decorum,