Snaith // Dulce Et Decorum Est (15 marks)

Dulce Decorum Est is a poem about war. Write about how the poet explores this theme.

Set in the First World War, Owen explores the theme war due to him being heavily affected by the war and suffering shell-shock. The suffering he witnessed within this war motivated him to try and eliminate the fundamental view which led to the old lie, “Dulce at decorum Est”. It is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of war, opposite to pro-war, patriotic ideas of the time. The negative semantic field used expresses the horror of the war and the struggles the men had to go through “men marched asleep”.

Owen’s use of first person plural pronouns makes the poem seem more believable and realistic to the reader, “his” or “many”, further attempting to demolish the old lie, by putting you in the soldiers boots.  The poem has such detailed imagery, even by today's standards; it’s still thought of as an unforgettable denouncement of World War I with the use of its intense tone. The opening image of the soldiers, “Bent double”, “coughing like hags”, suggests…