It is very difficult to picture to oneself a more disgusting and horrible thing than war. It is a war that maims thousands of people, injuring not only their bodies but ruining their souls, razing their dreams to the ground. Thousands of novels, stories, and poems convey the feelings of those who have experienced war, who have witnessed all atrocities of war. Those works of imaginative literature were created for different purposes: to share personal experience, to show the past to descendants, to glorify the soldiers who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the good of their motherland. However, the poetry of Wilfred Owen, mainly his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” differs from patriotic literature dedicated to war. The poet’s main aim, which is achieved due to the horrific imagery of the work, is to show the real nature of war, terrible horrors, and absurdity of pain that the soldiers suffered during a battle instead of the nobility of death in the name of the country.
The title of the story contributes to the disclosure of the main theme by arguing with Horace’s idea “that it was a sweet and noble thing to die for one’s country” (Spurr 65). Owen intentionally gives only the beginning of Horace’s quotation; it makes the impression that the author finds it unable to cite the Roman poet up to the end because of his absolute disagreement with him. What is more, the line from Horace’s poem makes Owen absorb his war past revealing the whole truth about war. However, the poet gives the full quotation in the final stanza of the poem: “The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori” (Owen lines 27-28). Thus, the author makes use of framing, beginning, and ending the poem with Horace’s quotation. Still, he is sure that the reader will accept his point of view on witnessing the horror of war. By means of a “control shot”, the poet introduces the personification of “Lie” stressing the enormity of this lie and his inability to accept it.
The author resorts to the creation of the impression of immediate presence and duration of action as one of the means of expression of the main idea of the poem. The reader is initiated into the action by the author’s resorting to personal pronouns “we” (Owen lines 2, 3, 18), “you” (Owen line 17). Direct speech is also used with the same purpose: “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” (Owen line 9). The poem sends shivers down the spine of a reader; it makes him/her feel the taste of lime and burning fire on the skin. The impression of duration is created with the help of present participles, which the poem abounds in: “guttering, choking, drowning” (Owen line 16). However, the poet is aware that the reader was not present on the battlefield. This is why to keep this atmosphere of presence, he hints at the nature of events as if it were a dream: “Men marched asleep” (Owen line 5). The “fatigue” (Owen line 7) and inability to move fast when one needs to are usual things in nightmares. Thus, the author keeps the atmosphere of presence making the reader believe that he/she saw a nightmare.
Besides, Owen distorts the image of a courageous and noble soldier who is eager to sacrifice his life in order to save his country. He makes use of a number of similes showing the real state of soldiers: “like old beggars”, “coughing like hags” (Owen lines 1, 2). The creatures described by the author are miserable, he vividly describes their physical degradation and exhaustion: “Men marched asleep” (Owen line 5), “all blind” (Owen line 6). The metaphor “drunk with fatigue” (Owen line 7) symbolizes the utter state of moral and physical tiredness of the men. They are not heroic, they are doomed to death, and they are helpless as is shown by the epithet “my helpless sight” (Owen line 15).
Drawing a conclusion, it may be stated that the author has managed to initiate the reader into the real war experience. Now it is impossible to be indifferent when you know the truth. No matter if it was real or it happened in a nightmare, it has changed your life. The revelation is that the young men should not be deluded by eloquent legends about the heroism of those who died at war. The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” shows the bitterness of war instead of the “sweetness” of the sacrifice of people. The imagery of the literary work makes it convincing, realistic, and personal, aimed at everyone.
References
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et decorum Est.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia NY: Longman, 1999: 543-544.
Spurr, Barry. Wilfred Owen. Glebe: Pascal Press, 2004.