“Dulce et Decorum Est”
Wilfred Owen
Thesis: With
his expressive word choice and overall structure of the poem, Owen portrays the
dark and depressing side of battle while dismissing the preconceived notions of
the glory to be found.
A.
Owen utilizes enjambment at points of great
action; the flowing of the lines represents the intense movement all happening
at once.
a.
“If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs” (21-22). In the same way that the
blood rushes from his lungs, one line rushes into the next.
b.
“deaf even to the hoots/ Of gas-shells dropping
softly behind” (7-8). Bombs are being dropped, and people are blowing up; there
is no time to breathe to pause between lines among the shouting.
B.
Through descriptive similes, the distress and despair
in this scene is effectively communicated.
a.
“And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime”
(12). This man was hit by a bomb, and one can immediately picture the awkward
movements that must be occurring due to this description.
b.
“His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin”
(20). The same man from before has now fallen; he is defeated, and his mangled
face becomes so vivid through this simile.
C.
Through the distinct shift in verb tense, the
shift that comes in war when disaster strikes is illuminated.
a.
“We cursed through sludge…we turned our backs”
(2-3). At the beginning of the poem, the men are slowly returning from battle,
thankful for each step they are taking but disheartened by the losses already
suffered.
b.
“He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning”
(16). The bombs have struck, and death is imminent, so the verb tense
transitions to present.
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