Its Not Sweet and Right to Die for Your Country Dulce...

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfird Owen is written about the First World War. The title means its sweet and right, but the story behind it is totally different to the title, which is ironic. The poet clearly mentions the horrible and appalling conditions that happened to soldiers in the First World War. The techniques that have been mentioned in the poem are imagery, language, and tone. The poet changes his tone of voice to angry and bitter, as he explains and describes the horrifying image that happened around him in the war. The poet describes the soldier in such a disturbing and painful manner; Owen uses similes and metaphors to describe the condition. The poet opens stanza one with a powerful and strong metaphor: â€Å"Bent double† It shows†¦show more content†¦Owen opens stanza two by a sudden gas attack, this stanza stands out from the other because of the use of punctuation and the big bold writing: â€Å"Gas! Gas! Quick boys!† the poet catches our attention when he changes his tone of voice. The poet used the colour green to clarify the gas is deadly, as the colour green is associated to terrible sickness and disease. The soldiers manage to put their helmets on yet one of them was still yelling and stumbling out. The poet uses ellipsis in stanza two: â€Å"like a man in fire or lime .....† in order to stop and change his tone of voice to slow, soft and dream: â€Å"dim, through the misty panes†, the poet watches the unfortunate soldier struggling for breath, thi s follows by: â€Å"I saw him drowning†, this is a metaphor to reveal how the man is dying, the poet chooses to describe in this manna because he gives us a very powerful image. Owen is showing us the cruel and miserable reality of war by using strong and effective imagery and tone. Wilfred Owen describes the death of the innocent soldier, he portrays how the man’s body is treated in a horrifying, repulsive and in an inhuman way. The soldier’s death was agonising the way Owen described it to us. The poet is sending a message about the young men who are sent out to the war, they are threatened and forced to go even though they don’t wish to. The poet is clearly explaining it to us through the poem that the war is not a fun and a pleasant experience. Owen