Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est

In the poem, Dulce et Decorum est the writer Wilfred Owen focus’ on experiences faced by the soldiers in World War I. Owen describes the horrific realities in the trenches and on the battlefield of France during WWI. Owen is trying to share with us his personal experience of War. He uses language features such as; similes and metaphors to stir readers emotions.

In the first line of the poem Owen uses a simile “bent double, like old beggars under sacks”, this is used to intensify the readers emotions about the realities of war. This simile makes the reader feel sad as our emotions are stirred right from the start of the poem. Soldiers in WWI were around 17 years old and are being compared to those of old ‘broken-down beggars’. This stirs readers emotions as we think about these young men who were once full of life but were taken from this to become an old beggar, who is crippled

This shows how the men were so tired that it seemed as if they were walking in their sleep. The soldiers have become so drowsy as they fought tirelessly and continuously. Even when they could get some sleep, they had to sleep on the damp, smelly ground surrounded by rodents and spiders crawling around their heads as they slept. There was always the possibility that they wouldn’t wake up again, therefore sleep was rare and a precious gift. It made me think about the type of terrain they fought in day after day with no sleep, I know that I would not be able to keep fighting after everything they were forced to suffer through. This metaphor stirred me to feel unhappy about the war as I began to think about the those that went to war with big hearts to fight for their country but came home with an empty heart of regret. If they were fortunate enough to return home. The war left mark on every soldiers life therefore this metaphor stirred my emotions as it showed me the futility of war and that the effort was for