Wilfred Owen’s poetry, comprised during his sixteen month stint at a rehabilitation hospital during World War I, has not only been influential to other poets, but also to the public’s perspective of the world of war (1100). When World War I broke out in 1914, many countries were ready to stand up for what they believed in. Owen enlisted with the Artist’s Rifles in 1915 and was shipped off to
Owen begins with a description of his fellow soldiers in the first person plural. His descriptions of the men put horrid images into the reader’s heads as they get a true glimpse into what it means to fight for one’s country. He likens the soldiers to “beggars” and “hags” as they “[curse] through the sludge” (1-2). These conditions are even more awful that anything a beggar or hag, which are two of the lowest forms of living we know, would have. This goes to show just how horrid a condition they were in. Owen says that the “[m]en marched asleep,” as if they were a horde of zombies (5). Owen’s inclusion of words like “limped” and “drunk with fatigue,” are mimicked by the last four lines of the stanza where sentences begin and end in the middle of the line giving the poem a swaggering effect because of its rhyme scheme (6-7).
The next stanza drops the first person plural in favor of first person singular, as Owen describes specific scene that takes place in the bunker. The opening line, “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” draws the reader into the fray (9). The alliteration in “fumbling, / [f]itting” helps to add to the scene a certain feeling of immediacy in their need to protect themselves (9-10). The horrible sight that Owen describes next is enough to make cringe in disgust:
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or time…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. (11-14).
When Owen brings the first person singular into the poem, it makes a huge impact. For the first time the reader can feel the pain of Owen as he watches his fellow solider drown in the sea of gas. The passage is so elegantly composed that there seems to be some sort of ironic beauty in the passing of this soldier. It is the next two lines, separated by a break in the poem, that really encompass the whole first person of Owen’s piece.
Since Owen has set up the scene from behind is gas mask, the next two lines bring the image to a complete visionary masterpiece. “In all my dreams,” Owen says, “before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning” (15-16). Owen stands helpless as his fellow soldier passes away in his arms, choking on the gas that was just thrown into their camp. Owen’s first person view takes the reader to a new level of gruesome war imagery. In short, war is hell, and Owen wants to make that clear to his readers.
The last stanza includes the line that the poem gets its title from. Owen begins with “[i]f in some smothering dreams you too could pace…” and then includes more grueling detail that followed the death of the gassed soldier. He sets up the last stanza perfectly, leaving the reader with a sort of haunting last plea to not continue the tradition of praising one’s fatherland when it comes to serving and fighting for war. Owen uses a line for Horace’s Odes: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (translates to “sweet and fitting it is to die for your fatherland”). Owen refers to this as “[t]he old lie” (27). This little glimpse into one event in his life is enough to hopefully warrant his readers giving up the old saying. To Owen, nothing is worth what he had to endure. He eventually was killed in battle several months after leaving the rehabilitation hospital. It surprises me that he would go back after these poems he wrote, but I guess he had no choice
2 comments:
Corbin,
Good explication and analysis of Owen's poem. You effectively present specific passages from the text to support and illustrate your insights, and do a good job of leading your reader through your observations.
Good insights and discussion on Owens’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” I agree that the title is indeed ironic in that his poem illustrates the true nature of war. How can we call the experiences of carnage, pain, and sufferings to be “Sweet and Filling”? You do a very good job at showing the confusion and “up close and personal” that Owens’s was trying to achieve with good textual support and commentary. Also, good job with the attention to detail of the stanza structure. Structure and choice of words are the tools of the poet, and it’s definitely something to pay attention to. In this case, the author’s message of chaos and scatter is evident in your text references and claims. I think Owens does indeed succeed at showing that “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is no more than “an old lie” when considering the fruits of war.
Post a Comment