Dulce et Decorum Est Flashcards
this imagery is used to contrast typical war propaganda
old beggars under sacks
more imagery of the soldiers being old, contrasting typical depictions
knock-kneed, coughing like hags
the war seems hopeless and rest is far away
towards our distant rest began to trudge
soldiers were unable to make their own decisions, like robots; automatous
Men marched asleep
this language is used to show how the men are unenthusiastic
But limped on, blood-shod.
list of sense being compromised
All went lame; all blind;/ Drunk with fatigue; deaf to the hoots
the soldiers are desensitised to the sounds of bombs, they are ‘deaf to it’.
Oxymoronic as they drop “softly” showing further desensitisation
deaf to the hoots/ Of gas shells dropping softly behind
sudden exclamation at th estart of the second paragraph
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!
the soldiers are awoken from their ‘sleep’ and suddenly are panicked
ecstasy of fumbling,
the second part of the phrase shows the urgency to save themselves but the first part indicates how inadequate the equipment is
clumsy helmets just in time
a generic soldier is struggling, shows the horror of war as it is the ‘unnamed soldier’
someone still yelling out and stumbling
rhyming couplets in ABABCDCD structure to show the order and regularity of war
fumbling…stumbling
he is threatened and in the limelight, very unusual simile to show his suffering
floundering like a man in fire or lime
Chlorine gas is seen through the glasses
Dime, through the misty panes and thick green light
metaphor of sea used except the man is actually drowning on the chlorine gas
under a green sea…drowning
PTSD from seeing so many deaths
In all my dreams
3 verbs in an asyndetic list used to frame the suffering as eternal, end stopped line shows death as life is final
guttering, choking, drowning
repetition of this word to show that personal experience is required to understand the suffering
If…
dreams referenced again, links to PTSD
smothering dreams
his body is not treated with dignity, no room for niceties
wagon…flung him
unimaginable suffering, vivid imagery
white eyes writhing
he looks like he’s about to die, ironic as he is, evil used to convey that war is bad as intended by the tone of the poem
hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin
the man is being possessed, he is not in control, vivid negative imagery of being sick,
froth-corrupted lungs
war and violence are presented as evil and the similes are comparative to hatred
obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
what’s done cannot be undone, innocent lives are ended due to other peoples problems
incurable sore on innocent tongues
war is extremely overglorified
such high zest
fighting is fruitless, “some” used to show that naïve soldiers are convinced to fight for a lie
some desperate glory
“it is sweet and glorious to die for ones country” is a falsehood, “Lie” capitalised to show how emphatically and prevalently false it is
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
How much war did the poet see?
lots, he fought for the French army and saw many die to gas attacks
what were the poets aims
to show people the horrors of war
what is teh structure
loosely 2x sonnet, half is ideas, half is action
what does the meter reflect
iambic pentameter used to reflet the monotonous nature of war
