Symbolism In Suicide In The Trenches

How is war represented in ‘Suicide in the trenches’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum est’?

‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a poem written by Wilfred Owen between the years 1917 and 1918. It describes the life on the battlefield and how it has impacted the life of the soldiers. ‘ Suicide in the trenches’ written by Siegfried Sassoon in 1917 discusses the dramatic experiences of a boy in war. While in ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ the soldiers life ends abruptly whilst in ‘Suicide in the trenches’ the boy’s experiences were so unbearable he took away his own life. These two poems describe the soldier’s personal perspective of war using the bare naked truth, not glorifying it in anyway.

In ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ the poet Owen reflects on life on the battlefield. The title of the poem,

Owen begins introducing the poem as any other day on the field. The soldiers are marching home, drained and half stuck together: “knock-kneed, coughing like hags”. The “knock-kneed” indicates that the soldiers are not only tired, they are also carrying their heavy guns, ammunition and personal belongings. This causes for the slouching and tiredness while they are walking home. They are coughing since most are cold and ill. The simile “like old beggars [...] like hags”, compares the soldiers to old beggars and hags. The repetition and hyperbole in “All went lame; all blind” makes the reader think of cattle because as they grow older they go lame or blind. The soldiers are compared to these animals because they are like them, diseased, ill and limping. As they reach their camp they get bombed with gas and the word “ Gas” is repeated to emphasize the vivid memory Owen has of this gas, showing how dangerous it is. When being attacked by the gas “someone still was yelling out and stumbling” struggling to put on his gas mask, anxiety hit him due to his fear of