Dulce et Decorum Est Flashcards
who is the writer?
Wilfred Owen
when was it written?
1917
themes?
- pain and suffering
- death and loss
- effects of war
- negative emotions
context?
- anti-war
- anti-propaganda
- response to the manipulation to recruit
- direct address to Jessie Pope - a patriotic, propaganda poet
- Latin used
- WW1
form + structure?
- irregular structure
- no rhyme scheme to symbolise chaos
- two line paragraph at the heart of the poem shows death is at the heart of war
‘Bent double, like _____ _____ under sacks’
old beggars
‘Men marched _____’
asleep
‘He plunges at me, _____, _____, drowning
guttering, choking
‘As under a _____ _____, I saw him drowning’
green sea
‘If in some ______ _____ you too could pace’
smothering dreams
‘And watch the _____ writhing in his face’
white
Obscene as _____, _____ as the cud
cancer, bitter
‘_____ _____, you would not tell with such high zest’
My friend
‘The old Lie: _____ _____ Decorum est’
Dulce et Decorum est
‘Pro patria _____’
mori
‘Gas! Gas! _____, _____!’
quick boys
‘An _____ of fumbling’
ecstacy
‘Behind the wagon that we _____ him in’
flung
‘Of vile, _____ _____ on innocent tongues’
incurable sores
‘To children ardent for some _____ _____’
desperate glory
‘Fitty the _____ _____ just in time’
clumsy helmets
what does ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ mean?
it is sweet and it is fitting
what technique does the line: ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks’ have?
simile
what does the adverb ‘haunting’ tell the reader?
connotations of death, haunting shows the temporary nature of light
what does the line: ‘distant rest began to trudge’ show?
they are returning to their trenches, their resting place
what does the line: ‘Many men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots’ show?
an image of despair
what technique does the line ‘Of gas shells dropping softly behind.’ have?
use of sibilance
what does the line: ‘Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling’ show?
- this line uses direct speech
- the word ‘ecstasy’ is malapropic, ill-fitting, as ecstasy is a positive word, gas masks will save them
what does the word ‘flound’ring’ show?
mustard gas liquidised their lungs
what does the word ‘lime’ mean?
its the colour of mustard gas
what does the line ‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning?’ show?
it uses water imagery to describe the men as drowning in the mustard gas
what does the phrase ‘In all my dreams’ mean?
the soldier is haunted by the memory
what does the line ‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning’ show?
- the soldiers are desperate
- use of triplets
- the line is in its own paragraph along with ‘In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,’ to emphasise the horror of war
what tense is the word ‘If’?
conditional tense
what does the verb ‘flung’ show?
the lack of respect for the soldiers - dehumanised by the war
what does the phrase ‘white eyes writhing’ show?
- alliteration, inhumane description, awkward syntax is mimetic of the observes harrowing experience
what atmosphere does the description: ‘hanging face’ create?
a disturbing atmosphere
what imagery is the verb: ‘gargling’?
water imagery
what does the line: ‘Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud’ imply?
that war is the worst thing imaginable
what does the line: ‘Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues’ show?
war left an incurable mark on innocent soldiers
why did Owen use the phrase: ‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest’?
as sarcasm to directly address Jessie Pope who is a pro-war poet and writer
what does the line: ‘The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria mori’ mean?
- The old Lie - shows the truth of war is covered up under propaganda
- Dulce et Decorum est - it is sweet and it is fitting is in a different language to show men had no idea what war was like
- Pro patria mori - to die for your country
