In “Dulce et Decorum Est,” the poet Wilfred Owen explores the idea that the reality of war is that it’s not as sweet as society puts it out to be. He centers the attention to a specific moment where he experienced an unforgettable encounter in war, the gruesome death of a soldier and how “you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie”. He's basically saying how you wouldn’t be in such high spirits after seeing what he saw.
The poem begins with the very vivid description of the fatigued soldiers, he uses very illustrative diction to emphasize just how tired and gone they really are. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, “coughing like hags”, “but limped on, blood-shot.” All of these lines from Owen's poem help paint the picture. In the very last line of the first stanza, with a sense of foreboding, Owen is hinting at the horrid event that's about to happen.
The following stanza, Owen is vividly describing what happened when they just got gassed and really making a point to show just how anxious they really were. “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys” By showing the panic and helplessness in the soldiers actions, it helps the reader get the sense that the portrayal the government is setting for war isn't that accurate.
“If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in” Owen wants the reader to step into his shoes, he wants them to feel what he felt when he heard the resonating sounds the dying soldier was making. The reality is that war is like the agonizing death of the fallen soldier, war is traumatic and gruesome, war is nothing like society makes it out to be, and they shouldn’t be telling children lies.
I chose this poem because I didn’t know what the title of it meant. I was instantly intrigued by the title and wanted to know what the poem was about, so I wrote my interpretation of it. I took this poem one line at a time since it was a little more challenging.
I have never read this poem but I feel as if by reading this interpretation it allowed me to understand what the poem is about. She also had a good explanation for each quote that she used.
--Brian Garay