Children grow up believing that war and fighting for their country is the most honorable thing to do. In the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, the author says that dying for one's country is sweet and proud. The poem shows the propaganda that dying in war is honorable. Wilfred Owen states that war is not as sweet and honoring as people may be told or perceive it to be. He shows this in the poem through images that describe the surroundings of the troops and the cacophonous words throughout the poem show an unpleasant tone and mood. Finally, the poem itself says that the saying Dulce Et Decorum Est deceives children, that death is not sweet even if it is for one's homeland. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the poem, the author uses poetic devices to explain the depth and true meaning of the poem. Harsh and sharp sounds are pronounced in this poem. These sounds are cacophonous-sounding words, which bring out the idea of unpleasantness. An example of this being uses is “His face pendulous, like that of a sin-sick devil,/ If I could feel, with every gasp, the blood/ Coming gargled from the corrupted lungs with the foam/ Bitter as the ruminant.” Shock, sick, devil, gargle, etc. They are the words used to describe the story in the poem. The author uses these phrases because he wants to show and support the meaning of the poem in a poetic way. It shows the reality of war through the story of these soldiers, which confirms why Dulce Et Decorum Est is a lie. It shows that war is not sweet and dying in war is horrible, which is supported by the cacophony of the poem. If the author did not use cacophony the message would not seem so solid and empty, with these words the author can have a greater impact on the audience. Another poetic device used to support the idea that children are being misled into thinking that war is best is imagination. Imagery is used a lot in this poem to elaborate on the setting of the poem. For example: “All became lame, all blind;/Drunk with toil; deaf even to the whistles/ Of the gas bombs falling softly behind.” In this line of the poem, Wilfred Owen uses auditory, visual, and even tactile sounds. Owen uses them at the beginning of the poem to help the reader visualize the setting of the story. These devices show the reader real feelings and physical sensations through the way they are presented. Another moment where Owen uses imagery is in line 14 “As under a green sea, I saw him drown.” This shows support for the message, as the dead soldier was not brave, nor proud, he suffered and was tortured until he died. As a child or even as an adult he may have been told that dying for your country is brave and proud, he may have joined the army for this and died horribly because of it. Others may honor your memory as a hero, but this was worth your life and even the death it got. The last thing the author uses to support his statement is the use of end rhyme. There are many end rhymes in the poem and this is one thing that makes it such a beautiful poem and message, that we even use it in school. Owen used “bags/ mud/ back/ trudge/ boots/ blind/ hooves/ behind” at the end of lines 1-8 to create an ABABCDCD ending rhyme. The author used them to show the connection with the different lines without having to put them both in one line. The way this improves the poem is to give it rhythm and have a flow, to make the poem cleaner and easier to read. The.
tags