As the word 'shod' insinuates horses, not humans. By using this term, Owen gives the reader the impression that he is comparing the soldiers with animals; instinctive hunters who are thirsty for blood. Another similie is also used in the first line of the poem. "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks" This similie shows how young soldiers are made old by the torment of war. By likening Owen's experience to something the reader can relate to, he is increasing the impact that the poem will have. The underwater metaphor is also used, which describes the soldiers being inflicted with the poison gas, which is effective in it's comparison that the soldier is drowing. By using such descriptive language, images, mood, similies and metaphors Owen is successful in increasing the impact of the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est. It also shows more clearly the horrific episode that the individual young soldier experienced, which is very far from the heroic deed that surrounds the war experience. .
While 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' emphasised the sadness of sending young soldiers off to war, 'Mental Case' shows the result of the war. Clearly two different angles, but both showing the negativity of war in two different ways. Owen's poem "Mental Case" also focuses on the individual soldier at war, and the intense affect that murder committed and witnessed had on the soldiers of World War I. The poem describes the long term effect that soldiers experience and in that way he emphasise an important negative comment. Due to the poem "Mental Case' is based on Owen's personal experience of war it succeeds in getting across a powerful point. The mood of the poem is bitter, resentful, gruesome and depressing. Therefore the poem shows the result of war and is trying to accomplish an emotion of guilt from the reader. A similie is used which likens the soldiers to skeletons, as the horror that the young men have witnessed have killed them from the inside out.
