Dulce Et Decorum Est: Exhaustion In Europe

Exhaustion in Europe In the poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” the poet Wilfred Owen uses his knowledge of the war he was in back in World War 1. The poet uses tons of imagery, metaphors and symbols to show what the war has done to not only him, but most former soldiers on war. Owens reveals that war is devastating, horrible and just the worst kind of pain and punishment you could go through. The last line says it all in the poem “The old lie: Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.” (Lines 27-28) War isn’t what it is cracked up to be and Owens uses tons of gruesome imagery to point this out. Owens tells you in the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is most of all tiring. The poet shows it right from the start in the poem saying “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” (1) By that saying yes, we feel tired, exhausted from fighting and can’t move on much longer. Resulting in we have so much weight on our shoulders and it is so hard to push on. Throughout the whole first stanza the poet shows the hardships of war and how gruesome it can be. Another way Owens shows that struggle is “Drunk with fatigue.” (7) Meaning they are hurt and tired, and it shows that because they can barely stand from how hard they have been fighting.

All the lines are relatively the same and rhyme about every other verse or line and it shows the beautiful technique that Owens uses in “Dulce et Decorum Est”. The others are short, but provide very valuable information needed to get the point across of the poem by Owens. In the third stanza, it shapes up the whole poem saying “In all my dreams before my helpless sight; He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” (15-16) Explaining how war killed his friend, his comrade and it has made him have PTSD (Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder) about seeing him dying from the tear-gas grenades when in