The poem appears to be written in iambic pentameter; however, if you take a closer look you will see that it doesn't hold to it throughout. As a matter of fact you will see that hardly any of the lines follows the iambic rhythm. Owen uses punctuation to break up the lines and change the way we will read them. He does not want the poem to be read with a strict rhythm because war is not like that. War is spontaneous, interruptible, and full of chaos. While the author may have had gentler thoughts about war before entering World War I, he uses the shaky, almost conversational, rhythm and strong cacophony to make us realize that we, just as he was, are mistaken in our views of war. Owen uses many poetic devices in this poem to help convey

his strong feelings on war. He uses similes in lines 1, 2, 12, 20, and 23. In line 1 he compares soldiers to "old beggars under sacks". He is showing that the soldiers are tremendously weary and haven't slept in days. Their clothes are ragged and filthy. He also says the soldiers were "coughing like hags". He shows that the soldiers were coughing and hacking violently from the smoke from burst shells and guns. The author uses and example of a hyperbole when he says the "men marched asleep" (5). Of course, the men were not walking while asleep, but they were extremely fatigued. They were dragging forwards as if sleep walking, not caring where they went as long as it was away from the battle and bloodshed. Owen uses an oxymoron when he states, "To children ardent for some desperate glory" (26). Glory, by definition, is "great honor, praise, or distinction accorded by common consent". Glory is not desperate or hopeless; it is the opposite of that. Perhaps of all the poetic devices Wilfred Owen uses in his poem "Dulce Et Decorum Est," the most apparent is Owen's wonderful use of vivid imagery. He tells us of trench warfare with such statements as "cursed through sludge" (2), "began to trudge" (4), and "many had lost their boots" (5). He displays the exhaustion and weariness of the soldiers with lines like "distant rest" (4), "drunk with fatigue" (7), and "smothering dreams" (17). He further shows the physically and emotionally dra

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Approximate Word count = 974
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)