Dulce et Decorum Est An Emotional Appeal

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Dulce et Decorum Est An Emotional Appeal War brings with it countless tragedies. Many of these tragedies only a veteran could fully understand. All too often the ugliness of war is glorified, and even worse, glamorized. In the poem Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen, the glorification of war is sarcastically refuted. Owen’s anger is eminent, as he graphically describes war in terms only a veteran or embattled soldier could comprehend. Dulce et Decorum Est, means “It is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country”(Arp 566). The title is used satirically, which the speaker defines within the very first phrase in the poem: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”(565). The speaker continues the description of the once young and healthy boys: “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, /Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs”(565), if the war enthusiast was not yet feeling guilty—now would be the time. The emotion that illuminates from these statements is powerful and intense. It is now clear, that one who has lived through war, could not possibly glorify it. The speaker vividly describes the hell soldiers endure while desperately trying to stay alive. Exhausted, injured, and “Drunk with fatigue”(566), the men go on—terrified, yet brave, the men go on. These men are not just a bunch of nameless men going to battle, they have names, and families, and beating hearts. The author of Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, Thomas R. Arp, asks the reader to “List the elements of the poem that seem no beautiful and therefore ‘unpoetic.’ Are there any elements of beauty in the poem?”(566). Although this is an extremely dark poem, and reveals some very ugly realities, I find it beautiful. It may not be about flowers, and the sun, and the gleaming ocean, but it is beautifully expressed—the way it ought to be. It encourages thinking and feeling, while removing ignorance. The intensity grows as the length of the poem grows. First, the speaker told of the men, and how they trudged towards distant rest (566). Now, further in the poem he singles out a single man. He also mentions himself as he explains “I saw him drowning”. He is referring to the one man who could not get his gas mask on in time to prevent death. During this passage, I could not help but to visualize the one young man who was left “flound’ring”, and maintaining dry eyes became near impossible.

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