Dulce et Decorum Est

A poem which affected me deeply was ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen. In this poem Owen conveys a potent message of war that was largely unheard of before. He depicts the realities of war with men tortured by gas, and even facing death, a war which brings about no heroism. To convey his message he uses a number of techniques including; simile, metaphor and alliteration.
Young soldiers often join the army for the respect and patriotic feeling that is associated with fighting and dying for your country. People often associated the soldiers with being finely groomed fighting machines and turned out in their finest attire. Owen makes this evidently false when describing the condition of the soldiers.
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,”
We realise the soldier’s clothes must be in tatters as they are described using the simile “like old beggars”. The men have to remain hunch-backed to remain hidden from enemy fire “bent double”.
“And towa...