Wilfred Owen vividly and acutely portrays the harsh reality of war straight up from a firsthand experience. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ the title, literally translates into ‘It is sweet and noble’, but this title brings out the ironic aspect of the poem, as the readers are aware that the poem is anything but ‘sweet and noble’. Owen seeks to convince the readers that the horrors of war far outweigh the efforts by the patriots to glamorize war. His main goal is to completely destroy the lies instilled by propaganda and to make sure the readers are aware of what ‘war’ really is about. Through the topics of the poem, his dialect decisions, and differentiating the charming title going before the aggravating substance of the poem, he conveys regard for his perspectives on war while amid in the middle of one himself. Owen utilizes imagery in shape and dialect to outline the abhorrences the speaker and his friend’s experience; and the way he portrays the fighters, just as they are twisted and harmed, parallels how the speaker 's brain is abused and frequented by war.

In the opening stanza, the narrator depicts the soldiers walking through the trenches, described as ‘bent double’ and ‘coughing like hags’, vividly showing the reader how difficult life is inside the trenches. Owen exhibits the demise like fleeting tranquility before all hell breaks loose from the gas assault. Alliteration and onomatopoeia join with effective metaphorical and strict pictures of war, to create a desolated