Explain the main ideas of the poem 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' by Wilfred Owen. In your answer refer closely to the forms and features used by the poet.

Dulce Et Decorum Est was written by Wilfred Owen during World War I and is a war poem focusing on the horrors of war; the conditions of the soldiers, the wars impact on those whom remain alive and war not being glorious. Owen, a soldier of WWI and who had experienced the pain, loss of lives, and extreme conditions of war, lives to recount this poem to a wide range of audience in the format of a rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, ghgh and so on. Owen's use of modern diction and anti-war belief suggests the poems purpose, to shock the reader and move them away from the popularly believed image of war being glorious.

The poem Dulce Et Decorum Est has seven quatrains. In the first and second quatrain, Owen establishes the war-like atmosphere, giving phrases such as "like old beggars under sacks", "men marched asleep", and "drunk with fatigue", which strongly provides the readers with vivid pictures of soldiers pushing forward in slow and controlled pace despite the extreme and harsh conditions they are confronted with.

English: Portrait of Wilfred Owen, found in a coll...

One of many, many graveyards in the Somme battlefi...

WILFRED OWEN AT THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY

The third Quatrain establishes a change in atmosphere where the weary soldiers suddenly becomes alert, a change in pace through the use of short staccato words, "Gas! Gas! Quick boys!"The fourth, fifth and sixth quatrain is the poet's further recount while the last quatrain concludes the poet's belief on war.

The first stanza describes the opening scene of the battlefield. Owen conveys the tiring, sickening, haunting conditions of war to the audience using similes.

This opening stanza is extremely effective in its description on the suffering of the soldiers, coughing extremely hard, similar to an old woman, and having to cramp uncomfortably like "old beggars under sacks."Another condition the soldiers encounter through war is physical tiredness. The "men marched asleep" is an...