Dulce Et Decorum Est Flashcards
Who is the poet and when was he born and when did he die?
Wilfred owen (1993-1918)
What does the title “Dulce et Decorum Est” mean?
“Sweet and right the die for your country”
Who was Wilfred Owen?(3)
- He dies before end of the war
- suffered from post traumatic stress disorder
- went to craiglock heart hospital
STRUCTURE
First two stanzas/fourteen lines form a loose sonnet. Second two stanzas/fourteen lines looser what does this imply?
indicative of war’s deleterious impact
STRUCTURE
What does each stanza connote?(4)
- Stanza one - sets the scene
- Stanza two - focuses on one soldier, couldn’t get his helmet on in time.
- Stanza three - reflects on aftermath
- Stanza four - directly addresses reader,persuade them war is horrific and wrong
ANALYSIS
What does the title ‘dulce’ ‘decorum’ and ‘fumbling’ and ‘fitting’ imply?
alliteration of the title and words builds as the pain worsens.
STRUCTURE
What is the structure of the stanzas and what does that imply?(3)
- ABAB
- loose iambic pentameter
- indicative
ANALYSIS
Deaf even to the “hoots” What is the effect?(3)
- onomatopoeia
- illustrates sound of conflict
- always in the soldiers mind
ANALYSIS
What does Owen convey by using the word blind in “all went lame all went blind”?
The horror of war to readers who are blind to it
CONTEXT
Who encouraged Owen to write poetry when he was in Craiglockheart hospital?
Siegfried Sassoon
ANALYSIS
What does “drunk with fatigue” imply?(3)
- Metaphor
- conveys men are exhausted
- also unable to think clearly
ANALYSIS
In the last stanza what does Owen do to directly address the reader?(3)
- It invites readers to actively imagine scene.
- ‘if’ - that pro-war feelings are because of lack of experience of horrors of war.
- conditional verb- ‘could’ - readers to give empathy lack of direct experience.
ANALYSIS
Why does Owen use phrases such as “Innocent” and “The children”?(3)
- Reminds readers of youth of soldiers
- potential recruits to emphasise horror of war
- metaphorically refer to soldiers’ ignorance of world
CONTEXT
Who did Wilfred Owen adress the poem to? And who was she?
- Jessie Pope
- also wrote patriotic motivational poems in WW1
What is your starting sentence?
The poem Dulce et Decorum Est, addressed to his wife, by Wilfred Owen portrays patriotism through his first hand experience in world war one.
