Dulce Est Decrum Est

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the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.'


Owen generates two powerful images aimed at discouraging the mere thought of war by its emotionally distressing descriptions. The way in which Owen moved the images from a general concept to personal illustration by addressing the reader directly, 'If you could hear' indicated that I must place myself in this situation, and evoke the setting and all the associated emotions in my mind as I were in fact witnessing this event first hand. Perhaps to feel the emotions as Owen would himself. The poet helps this by precisely describing the surroundings and encouraging particularly sinister and dark emotions to surface. The vivid similes: 'obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud,' encourage a sickening reaction to the notion of actively engaging in battle. The idea of cancer represents the 'terminal' results and finality of war. Owen suggests ...

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reader. As a reader I feel the relative stillness of the men's quiet attitude being quickly interrupted by these 'loud' words. A contrast is established. This image, and the one of the lone soldier dying 'awakens' the minds of the people who read the poem to the reality of war as being a terrifyingly sad way for young people to die, and that ideology of patriotism and honour is the cause of such sickening circumstance. Owen is, effectively, placing the blame of the war's consequences squarely on the shoulders of the society that supports it.


 

 

LANGUAGE AND TECHNIQUES

The language in this poem is quite simple yet vivid, encouraging the reader to understand the situation ...

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