dulce et decorum est

In the anti-war poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”, written by Wilfred Owens, the author criticizes the concept that it is sweet, honorable and patriotic to fight and die for one’s country. He portrays this criticism, throughout the poem, using a combination of powerful diction, figurative language, vivid imagery, and structure.

Owens’ use of diction in the poem is truly exceptional, and clearly supports the theme that war is terrible and devastating. The phrase “blood shod” shows that the soldiers are tired, having been walking for days without rest. Words such as “fumbling”, “yelling”, “stumbling”, “floundering”, “guttering”, “choking”, and “drowning”, creates an image of a terrified soldier desperately trying to escape the enemy, but failing. The author constructed these words in the progressive tense to emphasize the fact that this occurs all the time in battle. The dead soldier is then “flung” into a back of a wagon. The word “fl...