It Is Sweet and Proper
The Poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen was written October 1917, no date specified. The poem latin title “Dulce et Decorum Est” means it is sweet and meet to die for one’s country. The two literary elements Wilfred uses are imagery and word-choice. In the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Wilfred expresses horror of the war through imagery and word-choice emotionally.
Wilfred uses strong imagery in his poem to describe the soldier’s death. “Misty panes and thick green light, as under a green sea, i saw him drowning.” He was looking at the victim eyes through thick glass panes of the gas masks they wear. The gas mask protected them from the mustard gas, once it got into the lungs it burned all of your tissues and releases water and blood. So when the gas got inside the victim’s lungs, he drowns in his own bodily fluids. Since this day, Wilfred dreams of this horrific scene, reminds him that the victim drowned in front of him. Powerful imagery because it was the primary cause of soldier’s death and haunts the narrator.
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The soldiers were bent over like old beggars carrying sacks. Narrator is putting himself with his fellow soldiers as they labor through the sludge of the battle field. They have lost the feel of humanity and are reduced to cipher. They are like a swollen flesh on a bone and less likely to feel shock or agony to all but their march. They were all worn out and looked ragged. They certainly do not look like proud military men marching in uniform at all but ‘like