A* ENGLISH LITERATURE synopsis/analysis WAR POEM DULCE ET DECORUM EST FULL TEXT OF POEM

A brief synopsis/analysis of Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum Est with the text of the poem

‘Many had lost their boots’. There is a stark simplicity to this line and yet it is overwhelmingly effective. There is a ‘matter-of-fact’ and almost flippant tone to this line which serves as a reminder that awful things happening became the norm and were to be expected and even accepted. This image however carries with it a trace of reality for the reader who has not experienced war as he can to a degree actually relate to the pitiful image. It is beyond the realms of our imagination to be able to come close to understanding the horrors of poison gas however we can image how cold and destitute the soldiers must have felt without their boots. The effectiveness of this image lies in our understanding of