Dulce Est Decorum

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Critical Essay "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owenis a powerful poem that describes a soldiers life in the trenches in World War One. In this essay I will discuss the different techniques Owen uses to describe his duration in the war. The poem title "Dulce Est Decorum Est" is a rough translation of "It is sweet and fitting to die for your country." The title suggests how soldiers would die a glorious death by fighting for king and country. However if you read deeper in to the text you find that Owen is criticising the term because his poem shows the exact opposite. "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks." Owen is describing how the war has turned young fit men to near critical health conditions to the extent of Owen saying that the young men are now becoming like old women. The similie is very effective in the context because the reader feels sympathy toward the soldiers because they are being worked near to death. "Knock-kneed, couging like hags, we cursed through sludge." This use of alliteration describes the illness of the young men, the war has damaged them to the extent of there bodys nearly ageing the men are becoming like old men/women. The soldiers are walking through marshy swamps, they are trying to move position from the trenches. The men were nearly unable to go on, they are so tired, they are struggling to stay awake, they are exhausted. "Men marched asleep." this piece from the text shows the exhaustion of the men, that they were nearly falling asleep marching. Because the lack of sleep that soldiers that soldiers would get they would be lucky to get around 6 hours a day or night. "Outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind." The poet is describing how tired everyone was, he describes how the shells were even tired, he uses this metaphor effectivley because even though the shell is an inanamate object he
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