The title of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” alludes to the words of a Latin saying from Horace’s ode (Ode III.2.13).The words mean:” “It is sweet and right.” The saying is rounded off at the end of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” to signify what the poet actually meant.
The poem penned during the First World War dealt with the denunciation and disapproval of war. Published posthumously in 1920, the first draft was dedicated to Poe, and a revised later draft to “a certain poetess.” Nevertheless, the poem comes across as a signpost to the supporters of war that was detrimental to humanity .
The poet outlines the predicament of the average soldier involved in war. He describes their ordeal as they travel: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” The speaker makes this comparison as their backs are bent ‘doubly’ by the hardships they endured plus the demands of their profession. Due to this posture and intense fatigue, they walked “knock-kneed.” Their exhaustion had influenced their temperament rendering them as grouchy as old-cursing hags. They turned their backs to the ‘haunting flares.’ The phrase refers to rockets that were sent up to ignite with a radiant glare,so that it would reveal with its radiance, men and other concealed target/arms in the region flanked by the front lines.…
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