Please analyse the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen.

This famous poem was written about the experiences of its
author during World War I and how, in particular, the poet's wartime experience caused
him to question and to challenge outright many of the assumptions that people had at
home concerning war and how noble and wonderful it was. The title of the poem
immediately shows this emphasis, as it is the initial part of a Latin quote that means
"It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country." Note how Owen creates a dramatic
contrast between this title and the opening of the poem, which is worthy of some
attention:

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Bent double, like old beggars under
sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughling like hags, we cursed through
sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our
backs

And toward our distant rest began to
trudge.

We have in our mind
an impression of what soldiers should look like, dressed smartly in their uniforms and
bravely marching together towards battle to perform their heroic exploits. Owen, by
contrast, presents us with a band of exhausted soldiers going away from the front line,
retreating, who have been completely dehumanised by their experience of war. They are
described as "beggars under sacks" and "coughing like hags." There is no sense of
bravery or heroism in their figures at all.

The episode of
someone being gassed and the horrific visual way in which we are allowed to see his
"white eyes writing in his face" and hear the sounds of his "froth-corrupted lungs"
conveys the true horror of this war. This soldier did not meet his death engaging the
enemy. He is killed by an accident without seeing an opponent, and dies a gruesome
death. The change of person in the poem augments the power of Owen's argument, as he
moves from third person to first person and then finally addresses the
reader:

If in
some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon
that we flung him in...

My friend, you would not tell with
such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate
glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum
est

Pro patria
mori.

Above all,
this change of person forces us to become involved in the action of the poem and makes
us question to what extent our attitudes of war reflect "the old Lie" and how our
impressions may impact "children ardent for some desperate glory." This poem therefore
represents a plea to understand the true horror of war.