The soldiers were portrayed as overused and as if they were not cared for, Owen presented them this way to express that they were put through hell and due to the propaganda and lies not a soul except for the soldiers could see threw. “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,” (Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est) This reveals that the soldiers could not stop because of sickness and had to move on and continue trudging. A key word used is “sludge” because it describes the awful environments they had to traverse making it feel as if the ground was heavy which expresses that these soldiers were being constantly worked. . A simile is used “coughing like hags” to express the sickness of the men and to show how severe their illnesses were. In the poem alternative rhyming was used which created a flow in the poem. However he could have instead used it because it was ingrained in his mind. The alternative rhyming when visualised looks a lot like marching, which is what most soldiers spent their time doing, therefore he could have written this way subconsciously which again relates to the fact that their being used.. In the time, 1914, there was a large amount of propaganda which was filled with lies saying the war was like a game, yet this poem states “He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” (Owen) which proves the horrors that occurred in the war.
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