How Sweet and Honorable It Is: A Euphemism of War? Essay

Dulce Et Decorum Est is a verse written by a young British Army s disusedier of the mankind struggle I turned poet Wilfred Edward Salter Owen. He was once commended as one of the most important figures in twentieth century and cognize as one of the best poets, he is also c all(prenominal)ed as the superior War Poet in English Language as most of his literary pieces tackle stories of war and relevant topics. Owen wrote the said poem on 1917 during the offset printing World War while he was on military renovation and tells accounts based primarily on his personal experience and points of view towards war.However, the poem has made available in public three years after(prenominal) Owen got killed in 1918, days onwards the ceasing of the akin war that he condemned. It was publish posthumously to honor the beginning. Analytically, the meaning of the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est has to be a inoffensive narration of war with the purpose of either to promote ultranationalistic d eeds of the s of age(predicate)iers or to condemn the act of war per se.Perhaps, the author cherished the reader to provide the right justification and/or connotation to the highest degree the poem itself whether it has intentionally written to comfort the soldier as the old saying tells how noble it is to die for ones own country, or sees the other way around, which is to point out something like it is really trivial to end ones life in a fight just like that. The style of the poem alone depicts ironic true statement as the Latin phrase Dulce Et Decorum Est has the literal meaning How unfermented and Fitting It Is.Even if it is a commending statement, it could also signifies sarcasm as he questions how sweet and fitting would it really be to die for something. Originally, the phrase has to be written like this Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori, which has the accurate meaning How sweet-smelling and Honorable It Is to Die For Your Country , as the author excerpted this phr ase from Quintus Horatius Flaccus troika book among his four books of poem published on 23 B. C. , which empower Odes or Carmina in Latin language.Owens narrative poem all began on the graduation exercise line of the first stanza Bent double, like old beggars under sacks which gives us descriptions that in real battle, odd whole step and ill at ease(predicate) situation of the ones involved in the chaos especially the soldiers, who are half-standing and half-lying, real happens. Being in a chaotic war is never easy, and that is what the author trying to tell us. The word double in it offers a feeling of some(prenominal) the physical tiredness and emotional numbness at the same time, which the person involved could not just simply be retreat from and got nowhere to run.As the first stanza offers physical and emotional torture universe in a battle, the second stanza denotes psychological agony. Gas GAS strong boys With this narrative, the author wants the reader to feel the state of panic and the urgency that has inflicted once in the midst of a chaotic ambiance where everyone struggles to survive. This could be the causal agency behind the usage of capital letters and exclamation points on the first line of the second stanza.The third stanza, though it is the shortest stanza of the poem having sole(prenominal) both short lines, illustrates clear and dramatic picture of the speakers materialize of a dying colleague in his dreams, or should we say nightmare, and how they both felt helpless in the traumatic situation. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. Here, we can see that although the war is over, the tragic familiarity of the speaker still haunts him as a sign of trauma thus far when hes asleep.Thus, the war creates pain and suffering to the soldiers not only during war but moreso, even when the war is long ended. On the conk stanza, the speaker addresses you which denotes direct involve ment to the reader. He wishes to personally exercise an put forward to the public, particularly to the next generation, that the heroic deed of patriotically dying for the involvement of ones country is nothing but purely euphemistic act of injustice and pointless final stage because such kind of death could be preventable.He concluded the poem by stating the irony of the title Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori, which he emphasized as an old catch ones breath. Wilfred Owen got many strong points in this poem that whoever read the text mogul be involved. Weakness if theres any, has not obviously seen which make Owen surpass the level of being an amateur poet. The poem was simply a silhouette of Owens stand against the ongoing war that his audience would sure as shooting agree. Historians and students find this work very significant for the study of History to late understand World War I and the people behind it.R E F E R E N C E S Owen, Wilfred. 1997. Dulce Et Decorum Est. Modern History Sourcebook World War I Poetry. http//www. fordham. edu/halsall/mod/1914warpoets. htmlowen21 (accessed October 1, 2008). Barnhill, Candace. 2005. Wilfred Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est. http//people. smu. edu/cbarnhil/ENGLISH/ENGL2327/engl2327. htm (accessed October 1, 2008). Osondu, Emmanuel. 2008. biography Wilfred Owen. Helium, Inc. http//www. helium. com/items/1167412-biography-wilfred-owen (accessed October 1, 2008).