Dulce et Decorum Est
What are the horrors of war?
The horror and trauma of war
Horrific living conditions on
the front line
Presentation of soldiers
Experiences on the battlefield
-Conditions that the men had to face on the front line
-Continuous danger and vulnerability
-Dehumanisation due to the conditions
-Haunting/lasting impact of war
Wilfred Owen wrote “Dulce et Decorum Est” while he
was fighting as a soldier during World War I. The poem
graphically and bitterly describes the horrors of that war
in particular, although it also implicitly speaks of the
horror of all wars. While it is easy to comment on the
“horror of war” in the abstract, the poem’s depiction of
these horrors is devastating in its specificity, and also in
the way that Owen makes clear that such horror
permeates all aspects of war. The banal daily life of a
soldier is excruciating, the brutal reality of death is
unimaginable agony, and even surviving a war after
watching others die invites a future of endless trauma.
The way Owen uses language to put readers inside the
experiences of a soldier helps them begin to understand
the horrific experience of all of these awful aspects of
war.
-Trenches infested with rats, endless trudging through
endless muck and gore
-The government manipulated the media in the
attempts to utilise war for political purposes in this time
-Creates a vivid setting revealing the real horrors that
were occurring on the battlefield, death in the war is not
as glorious and heroic as we were led to believe
-Owen immediately thrusts the reader into the intensity
of war, confronting us with the images of weakness and
defeat through the use of similes.
In the opening stanza Owen refers to the soldiers as “old
beggars under sacks” that were “coughing like hags”.
-Owen establishes the fragility and lack of heroic valor
that the soldiers possess, causing the reader to feel
shocked and conflicted by the apparent discord between
what they believe soldiers to be like and what is
revealed to them in the front line.
-By calling these soldiers “beggars” and “hags” suggests
that these were once heroic men that have now been
stripped of their bodily integrity but also reduces them
to coast-off element to society. In doing so this makes
the reader see the soldiers as lesser beings.
-The diction in the first few sentences contain words
such as “haunting” and “trudge”. This is the language of
depravation and imminent struggle, reinforcing the

The barbarity of the
surroundings
Extent to which these soldiers
have been affected by the
devastation that surrounds
them
Sensory and descriptive
language
disbelief in the readers at the harsh atmosphere the
soldiers are placed in, while also uncovering the
adversity and exertion the men are encountering.
-The descriptive language creates a graphic setting in the
readers mind as how Owen describes how “men
marched asleep” and “limped on blood shod”. The
soldiers are wading through a sea of blood and bodies,
taking the reader into the thick reality of the trenches.
This appals the reader, as no one should have to
experience something as horrific and distressing as this,
causing us to reflect this horror and outrage as we
sympathise with the troops as they march in search of
their “distant rest”.
-The intensity of the surroundings continues to intensify
in the second stanza as the soldiers come face to face
with a gas attack.
-However, one soldier does not get to his gas mask in
time and is trapped in “An ectasy of fumbling”. The use
of the word “ectasy” creates a sense of trance-like
frenzy as the men struggle to put on their helmets. The
poem becomes personal and metaphorical “misty
panes”- adds an unsettling element to this traumatic
scene, as it makes the reader feel like they are trapped
being a window, incapable of helping this poor soldier,
as if they too, like this dying soldier, are imprisoned in
the world of bloodshed and can only wait as this horror
unfolds.
-Speaker confesses how “before my helpless sight”
reiterating the feeling of helplessness that was
encountered previously in the poem, the dead soldier
“plunges” at his “guttering, choking, drowning”. This
amplifies the personal effect of the scene, the graphic
image searing through and scaring the reader, despite
the ghost like atmosphere created by the toxic gas and
the floundering soldier. As Owen uses the word
“plunges” this exposes Owen’s own guilt and his inability
to save his comrade, suggesting that Owen believes that
his fellow soldier blames him for his death.
-Sensory and descriptive language extends the vivid
imagery
-Alliteration of “watch the white eyes writhing” creates
a distortion and inhuman feature on the young soldier’s
face. Creates a dark and painful image to convey the
depths of which suffering is embedded in these men.
 The Last laugh

The phrase that Owen used to title this poem is the idiom ‘the man who has the last laugh’.
It symbolizes the ultimate victory of the unnamed man over his foe, usually someone who
deserves the ridicule. However, Owen characteristically takes this positive idiom and skews
it into the frame of war context, thus showing that there is no man alive in World War I who
has the last laugh – it is, instead, the ‘monstrous anger of the guns’ (Anthem for Doomed
Youth) that can claim a victory. In this war, there are no survivors.

It also draws allusions to his poem Exposure, primarily through the use of the single-focus
perception. Instead of taking a broader view of war, as he did in his much-celebrated
work Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen minimizes his perception to these three soldiers instead.
There is nothing beyond them, and thus this focus entails that the reader is far more acutely
aware of the tragedy of the war.

The first stanza opens with the death of an anonymous soldier. Ripped from life, he only has
time to utter ‘O Jesus Christ! I’m hit’, and the second line follows with ‘whether he vainly
cursed or prayed indeed’, leaving it ambiguous, and up to the reader to determine. Owen
was devoutly religious, of course; however, there were a great many men who lost their
belief in a higher purpose in the war, and Owen himself must have doubted, at some point,
that this was the purpose that God had for all of them. Putting the reference of religion into
the poem shows at once how ineffectual praying has become: God cannot listen anymore.
You will die alone, and you will die in vain.

By personalizing the guns and their laughter, Owen actually gives them a much stronger
character than the soldiers that are dying. The dead soldier is not even given a name –
however, the ‘Bullets chirped’, the ‘Machine-guns chuckled’, and the ‘Big Gun guffawed’,
and the use of the capital letters and the emphasis placed on them, shows the shells of men
that have been created. It is the guns that have won this war. It is the guns, therefore, who
have had the last laugh – only the guns who triumph. Note, as well, the use of gleeful
sounds, nearly childish sounds – chirped, chuckled, guffawed, are all words that seem
ecstatic and cruel. The guns’ enjoyment is directly at odds with the horrors of the dead
soldier – however, given that we focus only on their perspective, it unknowingly drags the
reader into the opposite view of the war; that of pure, senseless, and violent destruction.

The second stanza takes a different soldier – one who calls out to his family at the moment
of his death, to no avail. ‘Then smiled at nothing, childlike, being dead’, shows the return of
innocence for the dead soldier – though it is ironic that the soldiers are smiling at the
moments of their death, and also the use of the word ‘childlike’ shows, ironically, how much
soldiers have been debased. They return to purity only when the guns take them away from
the indignity and the anger of the war.
Here, the war-machine takes a far more contemptuous view of the death of the soldier. The
terms ‘lofty shrapnel-cloud’ elevates it above the muck-diving soldier, and the ‘splinters
spat, and tittered’ shows the ultimate mockery of the war-machine, and man’s attempt to
understand the war. This can also be taken as a larger expression on the futility of
understanding the war itself.

The final stanza follows yet another soldier. This one, dying, calls out to his lover, but it is to
no avail; she is far from home, and she is not hearing him. The irony of the dying soldier
falling down to kiss the ground, rather than his lover, shows at once the loneliness of their
deaths: far from home, they die in fields alone and in pain, with only the background music
of the war to keep them company – a war that seems to be mocking their heartfelt cries.
Notice the complete lack of emotion on behalf of the war-machine. One wonders whether
Owen personified certain members of the British army into his war-machine, being that they
were the ultimate symbols of pushing men to their deaths.

Historical Background

The Last Laugh was originally titled ‘Last Words’, and is dated February 1918, from a poem
that Owen sent to his mother.

 Popularity of “The Last Laugh”: “The Last Laugh” by Wilfred

Owen, a phenomenal English poet, and soldier is a sad poem. It was
first published in 1918. The poem recounts the horrors of wars. It
draws readers’ attention toward the miseries and horrific deaths of
the soldiers who participate in warfare. Wilfred’s excessive use of
poetic devices, sombre tone, and element of realism has made this
poem echo the greatness of the writer.
 “The Last Laugh” As a Representative of Death: This sad poem
explores the sudden death of the three soldiers. It begins with the
sad demise of the first soldier, who calls his Creator while counting
his last breaths. The sound of the heavy machine guns around him
shows the destructive nature of war in which he participated and lost
his precious life. The second stanza further introduces us to another
dying soldier; he remembers his family before his end. While
expressing the strange sounds of the war machines,
the speaker mocks the use of these destructive weapons that are
used to kill human beings. The third stanza, however, sheds light on
another poor soul dying helplessly in the same field. While dying, he
calls out to his lover, but she is too far to hear his last words. The
poem ends with disturbing war scenes where violence and crude
emotions supersede the emotions of kindness, love, and care.
 Major Themes in “The Last Laugh”: The destructive war, death,
and loneliness are the major themes of the poem. The poem
presents a disturbing war scene where soldiers are losing their lives.
It shows how one after another soldier is down to the ground, but the
music of war never fades away. Through this simple text, the speaker
makes his readers understand the extreme misery and loneliness of
the war soldiers. Despite having families, loved ones, and dreams of
a prosperous future, they die helplessly on the battlefield. Although
they remember and recall their families during those trying times, no
one gives them a helping hand. Resultantly, they die amid firing,
chaos, and violence.
 Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the
same line such as the sound of /e/ and /o/ in “Till slowly lowered, his
whole face kissed the mud” and again the sound of /e/ in “Another
sighed,—‘O Mother,—mother,—Dad.”
 Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the
same line such as the sound of /t/ in “Tut-tut! Tut-tut” and /v/ in “In
vain, vain, vain.”
 Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a device used to call somebody or
something from afar. Here, the poet has used an apostrophe to call
the creator such as; “O Jesus Christ! I’m hit,’ he said; and died”
expressing sorrow and sadness by calling God directly.
 Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in
the same line such as the sound of /n/ in “Then smiled at nothing,
childlike, being dead” and the sound of /l/ in “Till slowly lowered, his
whole face kissed the mud.”
 Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come
to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For
example:
 Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving
their five senses. Wilfred Owen has used imagery in this poem such
as “O Jesus Christ! I’m hit,’ he said; and died”, “Till slowly lowered,
his whole face kissed the mud,” and “Then smiled at nothing,
childlike, being dead.”
 Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a
way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning
of the words. This is an ironic poem that presents the horrific and
helpless death of the war soldiers versus the laugh of war weapons.
 Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is
made between the objects that are different. The poet has used
death as an extended metaphor just to show that when it comes to
taking our soul, no one can help or save us.
 Onomatopoeia: It refers to the words which imitate the natural
sounds of things. The poet has used the words “Tut-tut! Tut-tut” in the
first stanza of the poem where it is stated as;
 Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and
qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal
meanings. The poem shows symbols like misery, death, and pain to
show how brutally soldiers die on the battlefield.
 Diction and Tone: The poem shows descriptive diction but a tragic
tone.
 Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain
patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict
rhyme or meter.
 Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three
stanzas in this poem with each having the same number of verses. .