Discuss the use of metaphor and symbolism in Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen The poem Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen is indisputably one of the most iconic war poems ever written and its impact is just as great today, as it brutally conveys the horrors and reality of WWI. The use of metaphors and symbolism in the poem maximises the impact of its cleverly crafted imagery. Owen begins the poem with a striking metaphor of the soldiers as old beggars and describes them as coughing like hags . This age s portrayal of them often very young soldiers illustrates the horrific physical effects of war, robbing these men of their youth and making them old before their time; both physically and psychologically scarred. But also, the lexeme hags had negative connotations of ugliness to the eyes and could be interpreted as semantically linked to the ugliness of war itself as the reality of the war hit the world. Continuing to convey the destructive effects of the war is the metaphor drunk with fatigue which has many layers of meaning and can be linked to Knowles & Moon s theory that we recognise metaphors as non-literal, and we interpret them accordingly as in reference to the verb drunk it could portray the physical effects of the fighting, leading to disorientation from shock or guilt and essentially just physical harm as alcohol can lead to harm or poisoning. It could also be interpreted as conveying the loss of control of these fatigued soldiers as individually they have no control over the outcome of this war; Owen likens them to men stumbling from alcohol consumption using this metaphor. When considering the context of the first world war, the atrocities lead many, including Owen himself, to lose faith in God as they could not comprehend an omnibenevolent God allowing such events to happen, so the reference to drunk could be a symbol of corruption as the holiness of religious beliefs are infected by the foulness of war. This reference to religion is furthered by the sibilance of sores on innocent tongues and devils sick of sin as the repeated s sound conveys almost a sense of spitting out the words in disgust at what Owen himself has seen and experienced in the war as contextually he was not an accomplished poet before the war, he wrote a lot of his poetry in hospital after being injured in the fighting. The religious lexical choices of innocent , devil and sin develop the idea of the corruption of war. In particular the simile hanging face, like a devil s , portraying a dying soldier intoxicated by gas, may relate to the colour connotations of red, linked with the devil, blood and danger. It may be that this man was covered in blood that possibly is not even his own, linking to devil from the killings these men were forced into committing to avoid the consequences of cowardice. Knowles & Moon state that the use of metaphor s in literature solves the issue that we might well not understand them except with the help of metaphorical models or analogies , and Owen portrays this benefit of metaphors many times in the poem. When portraying soldiers marching to war and carrying on marching through it all, he describes them as they began to trudge and the men marched asleep , creating a metaphor of cattle being lead to slaughter. It highlights the irony that during the First World War the soldiers were sent off as hero s, excited about what laid ahead; when in reality for many they were marching towards the slaughter. This metaphor is emphasised in the description of a dying man with white eyes writhing as when cattle are slaughtered, it is evident in their eyes they are distressed and dying in pain. Owen s use of this metaphor relates to Knowles & Moon s statement as without the use of these cattle to portray the soldiers, dehumanising them to

emphasise the effect on readers, it is almost impossible for those not involved in the war to understand what Owen has witnessed. Also related to Knowles & Moon s statement of the help of metaphorical models or analogies is Owen s use of the metaphor of drowning to convey the harrowing image of a soldier intoxicated by gas; described as floundering...in fire or lime , consumed by thick green light under a green sea, I saw him drowning . This is significant as the use of the first person personal pronoun I inputs the personal identity of the narrator, Owen himself, for the first time in the poem, and this only increases the impact of the metaphor as this personal declaration of I saw him drowning creates feelings of helplessness and possibly Owen s own guilt as a prominent reason for him writing these poems was to show those at home the reality of war. Drowning is a relatively well understood concept of death, unlike the prospect of gas suffocation for the public, and so the metaphor assists the audiences understanding of the fatal attacks that took place. The repeated use of the colour green for example thick green light , creates an unworldly, alien image which could either be interpreted as a means of illustrating this unknown experience of war for these often very young soldiers, that becomes so horrific very quickly; or it could be linked to the alienation the survivors felt when they returned home, as they were both physically and psychologically scarred and often unable to return to normality. In terms of modern context, soldiers sent to fight still sometimes suffer from severe shell shock and depression once they return home to their families, and so this feeling of alienation, surrounded by the thick green light of the trauma they have experienced; is still relevant today and so modern readers can relate, accounting somewhat for the longevity of the poem. Related to the striking portrayals of a gas attack created by Owen, is the use of noise in the poem; most significant in the final stanza, if you could hear, at every jolt gargling from the frothcorrupted lungs as this graphic description manipulates the senses. The harsh lexical choice of jolt creates impact and furthers the idea once again of the corruption of war; as the adjective gargling almost forces the reader to hear the torture of this soldier taking place. The line begins with if you which creates both a direct address to the reader and a conditional clause, highlighting their lack of experience and therefore creating Owen s authority as he has experienced these atrocities first hand. It relates to the high level of censorship that took place at this time as what the public knew of the war was severely conditioned and so the use of vivid auditory descriptions, relating to Knowles & Moon s suggestions of the functions of metaphors of explaining, clarifying, describing, expressing as the graphic gargling from the froth corrupted lungs explains and clarifies to the readers the reality of war, undoing the censorship of society at this time. However all these metaphorical and symbolic references throughout the poem may be seen as insignificant to the extended metaphor of the poem as a whole. The Latin title, taken from Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro patria mori , also the final line of the poem, translates as it is sweet and fitting to die for one s country and was used by Horace, a Roman poet and philosopher to build up a sense of patriotism; however Owen uses this mantra ironically and the poem as a whole illustrates its complete contradictions. This ironic use of the Latin statement can be linked to Knowles and Moon s statement concerning the interpretation of metaphors, that we recognise them as non-literal, and we interpret them accordingly ; as it is easy for readers to see from Owen s descriptions of the soldiers as Bent double , whether this is interpreted as the men they were before this war and the

battered men they are now, or simply a representation of their tarnished bodies; that he does not rate the honesty of this statement. As the poem draws to a close, Owen directly addresses the reader as my friend , and this sudden shift in register to a seemingly positive tone creates impact through the bitter irony of such high zest , as the overtly optimistic use of propaganda before and during the war is mocked through the cyclical structure of the poem, which returns to the Latin title, this time in full. The poem speaks of children ardent for...desperate glory and this metaphor relates to the way in which children were taught Horace s poem in which this Latin statement derives. Owen pleads for the next generation to be spared from this lie as he reveals through the brutal metaphors and symbolism of this poem that war brings desperation , for a glory that is certainly not achieved through death.