Dulce et Decorum Est
By Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Notes:
- DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country
1. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks…” What is the literal and implied meaning of the imagery used in this line? By analyzing the first stanza of the poem, state what your impression of the soldier is. Give reasons for your answer.
Ans:
The meaning of the imagery is to completely destroy the cliched image of young sprightly soldiers representing the epitome of upright masculinity, and replaces them with a sorry image of prematurely aged young men who are now completely physically derelict.
As the poem goes on after the first stanza, the structure of the poem becomes disorganised and shows Owen's "tuneless tendencies" once more. This is because the army was regimented and in order in the first paragraph but after the gas attack, everybody panicked and the structure of the army disformed like the stanzas. this also shows the soldiers to be young, nieve and inexperienced when dealing with a problem like this.
2. How do sound devices and imagery in the poem contribute to the mood increasing tension in the poem?
Ans:
Throughout the poem, the speaker crescendos in sound, color, speed, and image. The third stanza begins with the jolt of panic and attempt to save their own lives. Just in time progresses to But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, like a man in fire or lime. The crescendo is of a lone man representing the worst of the gas that the rest of the men escaped, and caught in a bright spotlight of imagery of fire or lime. The dash at the end of the line pulls us to the next lines Dim through the misty panes and thick green light.As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. abruptly decrescendoing to a faded spotlight, misty and thick. The lime dulls to green and the man in fire becomes the muted, more euphemistic drowning. These images allow us to experience not the minute details of the scene, as a bystander would witness, but the fury and pain of fear and toxic air that precisely serve Owen's purpose to warn us against the so-called glories of war marketed to their paradoxically juvenile audience, such as the teenagers we have today.
3. As you reach the end of the poem, what do you think the poet’s message is? Do you agree with his views? Why or why not?
Ans:
The poem opens with a description of trench life and the conditions faced by the soldiers. Then comes the gas attack, and the poem offers a graphic description of the effects of such an attack. Owen's purpose is to warn us against the so-called glories of war marketed to their paradoxically juvenile audience. These descriptions made me realise just how oblivious “the people back home” must have been to the wars' utter tragicness.
I agree with the poet's message, I believe that the world could progress much faster and experience a so-called "golden age" if various countries are able to settle their differences amicably and work together in harmony, sharing knowledge with one another and help those who are in need, in this way, I hope, those who still haven't experienced war will never have to experience it again.
