Dulce et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen) Flashcards
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”
simile = soldiers dehumanised, aged beyond years
• plosive “bent” = physical strain, brutal realism
Simile - like old beggars - immediately subverts traditional heroic image of soldiers
• ironic contrast = heroic ideal vs reality of suffering
Owen begins with a grotesque image to destroy romanticised war myths and emphasise exhaustion.
“Knock-kneed, coughing like hags”
alliteration = harsh physical weakness
• simile “like hags” = unnatural ageing, loss of masculinity
• sound imagery “coughing” = illness, suffering
Owen depicts soldiers as physically ruined, mocking the idea of glorious youth in battle.
“Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots”
metaphor “asleep” = numbness, trauma, mechanical motion
Hyperbole - extreme exhaustion
• monosyllabic = drained tone, loss of vitality
• repeated “m” = muffled, slow pace
Owen captures the living-dead state of soldiers, physically present but mentally broken by war.
“Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling”
exclamatives = urgency, panic
• ironic use of “ecstasy” = twisted adrenaline, terror not joy - oxymoron
• chaotic rhythm = sudden shift from exhaustion to chaos
Owen disrupts the scene with sudden violence, immersing readers in the confusion and horror of war.
“Flound’ring like a man in fire or lime”
simile = man compared to someone burning/corroding alive
• “flound’ring” = desperate, helpless movement - fish like
• sensory imagery = intense pain (heat + chemical burns)
• enjambment = physical struggle spilling into next line
Owen vividly captures the agony of a gas attack, comparing it to the most extreme forms of suffering to shatter all illusions of noble death.
“He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”
violent triple verbs = intense suffering, helplessness
• present tense = immediacy, inescapable memory
• water imagery = overwhelming, suffocating effect of gas
Me - feels personally responsible
Owen presents death as agonising, portraying the soldier as drowning in his own body.
“If in some smothering dreams you too could pace”
conditional “if” = accusatory, rhetorical challenge
• “smothering dreams” = suffocating memories - nightmares - inescapable
• direct address “you” = attacks pro-war readers
Owen confronts those who glorify war, urging them to experience the trauma firsthand.
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin”
simile = face distorted, horror beyond evil
• sibilance “sick of sin” = disgust, exhaustion
the devil would be disgusted by these horrors
• religious imagery = moral corruption of war
Owen uses grotesque visual detail to shock and provoke revulsion at war’s true cost.
“The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est / Pro patria mori.”
capitalised “Lie” = central message, bitter tone
• Latin = classical, educated reference turned ironic
• juxtaposition = horrific images vs noble motto
Owen ends by exposing patriotic propaganda as toxic and deadly, condemning its continued use.
Title: Dulce et Decorum Est
Latin = “It is sweet and right to die for one’s country”
• ironic use = poem undermines the very idea
• classical allusion = patriotic ideal rooted in history
• “old Lie” (end) redefines the title as bitter propaganda
Owen uses the title to directly attack romanticised notions of war, turning noble-sounding language into a damning accusation.
Structure & Form
irregular stanzas = emotional fragmentation
• broken rhythm, heavy enjambment = mimics physical + mental collapse
• punctuation (dashes, exclamations) = chaos, trauma
• blend of realism + bitterness = dual impact
Owen disrupts poetic structure to mirror the disordered horror of warfare and the shattered minds it creates.
Context
Owen = WWI soldier, wrote from experience
• poem written 1917–18 → published posthumously
• reaction to jingoistic propaganda (e.g. Jessie Pope)
• aimed to show civilians the truth of trench warfare
Owen wrote this poem to unmask the brutality behind patriotic ideals, using first-hand experience to challenge public ignorance.
Themes
Horror of war
• Betrayal of youth
• Trauma and memory
• Reality vs propaganda
• Death and suffering
