An Analysis of the meaning, form, and style of Dulce et Deco

The poem’s main theme, the veneration of war, is explored though imagery that presents war as horrifying. The persona’s viewpoint, used to express the meaning of the poem, is that this worshiping of war should be terminated. A reference to children is made, who are said to be lied to when told that they should be proud to die for their country, since the horrors lived in war are never mentioned to them.

The title of the poem, which translated from Latin means “Sweet and Honourable it is”, is clearly ironic. In the last verse, the title makes reference to the viewpoint society has on dying for one’s own coun

The form of the poem consists of four stanzas. The first stanza describes the initial scene, where the soldiers are walking through a trench. The second one narrates a tense situation, where gas shells are thrown at the marching soldiers and one of them fails to put on his helmet on time, and consequently dies. The third and fourth stanzas deal with the after-war emotions felt by the poetic voice, and hence express the anti-war viewpoint of the persona. This means that the poem can be thematically divided in two, since the first two stanzas describe the war itself, while the last two describe post-war feelings. Additionally, there is a division in the form of the poem as well. The first two stanzas form an Italian sonnet, while the last two are in a loose form. This means that there is a clear relation between the form and the sub-themes of the poem, as while the first two stanzas describe the war, the last two deal with the after-war emotions felt by the speaker. The strong emotional instability experienced as a consequence of exposure to war is reflected in the "disordered" form of the stanzas it is described in.

Throughout these four stanzas, the reader encounters an effective and continuous use of figurative language. Owen mainly employs similes and metaphors, although he also uses some personifications. Similes and metaphoric devices are first used to describe the soldiers, whose physical appearance is degradated by comparisons to beggars and old women. Their tiredness is described through allusions to sleep and alcohol, as in the phrase "drunk with fatigue", which makes the reader picture the soldiers dragging themselves as drunken people do.

Another device used by Owen is a brilliant use of diction, as in the simile “like a devil’s sick of sin”. Besides emphasizing the evil nature of the consequences of war, the comparison exploits the potential ambiguity of words. In the mentioned case, the word “sick” is one with a strong negative connotation. But this negativity can be interpreted in a physical or a mental sense; or even in both. Hence the use of this specific word

Some topics in this essay:
World War, Dwight Eisenhower, Cold War, Wilfred Owen, figurative language, Decorum Est, makes reader, physical mental, form poem, USA Russia, stanzas describe war, deal after-war emotions, after-war emotions, rest poem, deal after-war, lived war, expressed poem, poetic voice,