There are many terrible things that war can have within it or do to those involved within it, one of the most terrifying things that have happened is the use of chemical weapons, there are many works of literature that tell of how deadly they are, especially war writings. One such writing is a poem named “Dulce et Decorum Est”, which was written by a man named Wilfred Owen, who had first hand experience with chemical warfare. It was through the harm and fear that it caused the soldiers in the trenches that sparked many debates over what was acceptable to do during war times. The soldiers were the ones in the trenches constantly fearing what horrible thing would be shot at them next. It was as well the realization of what receiving the promise …show more content…
One of the deadliest gasses used during the time period of the poem was Sarin gas, but the colored gas that the soldiers seemed to fear was described to be similar to mustard gas or chlorine gas. From an article written about mustard gas, “By the end of the war, more than two dozen chemical agents had injured 1 million soldiers and civilians, killed 100,000 people and earned the well-deserved title of weapons of mass destruction,” (Briggs, Para. 3, Lines 4-5) from this excerpt there was little wonder of why the soldiers in the poem feared chemical weapons due to knowing first hand what they could due to someone. Through mustard gas was not the correct color that the soldiers described it as it’s affects matched the description of the sores, but it could have been mixed with chlorine to get the correct color. From what all the chemicals that the soldiers had to face in the poem could due to a human it was no surprise that they feared these chemical weapons so much that they would scream at any sighting of the …show more content…
The soldiers in the poem were talking about how they were promised victory and to an extent glory for fighting within the trenches and tell the story of the horror that they were met with. From the poem, “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest / To children ardent for some desperate glory,” (Owen, lines 25-26), the narrator gives the audience some advice of what he thinks of war. From this advice one could tell that no-one during this war would think highly of these battles and boast about them, the narrator warns it seems that his desperation for glory had lead him to what he would consider a horrible place. He seems to warn those that the battlefields that he has fought on from the poem should never be a place for those seeking