Dulce et decorum est Flashcards
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
In the opening line Wilfred Owen uses a simile to compare the soldiers to beggars suggesting they are haggard and dishevaled
Knocked-kneed, coughing like hags,’
Here Owen uses the alliteration in ‘Knocked-kneed’ and a simile to further underline the depressing state of the soldiers. ‘Knocked-kneed’ suggests they are thin and shivering. The simile compares them to old women.
we cursed through sludge’
With the word choice of ‘cursed’ Owen effectively suggests the men are frustrated as they drag themselves away from the battlefield.
All went lame, all blind’
The repetition of ‘all’ and the hyperbole in this line underlines the idea that the soldiers are in a horrific state.
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots’
The metaphor, ‘Drunk with fatigue’ compares the soldiers with drunkards which suggests they are not in their right minds and are not fully aware of their actions. They seem to be almost dreamlike in the way they move despite the noise of battle around them. This gives the impression their senses are dulled to the war.
Gas! Gas! Quick boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling’
Wilfred Owen, at the start of the second stanza, changes the pace of the poem with the direct speech and exclamations. The word choice of ‘ecstasy’ further suggests a chaos and confusion.
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning’
Owen In the short third stanza Owen creates a powerful image of the speaker’s horrible dream where they remember the man affected by chlorine gas. The list of adjectives accentuates the horrific sight.
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs’
Wilfred Owen further underlines the horror of war in the final stanza. The onomatopeoia in the word ‘gargling’ evokes the disgusting noise of choking. The neologism of froth-corrupted suggests Owen reaches for a new word to describe the horror
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.’
The repetition os the word ‘green’ and the metaphor of the drowning man suggest the other worldliness of this horrific and thought-provoking scene.
pro patria mori’
In the final lines Owen returns to the title and ends with a finality. He underlines the futility of war and the obscene nature of telling young men war is glorious.
