Dulce+et+Decorum+Est

"Dulce et Decorum Est" Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
 * About the Author **
 * Wilfred Owen
 * Born on the 18th of March, 1893
 * Shropshire, England
 * Fought in the trenches
 * Five poems were published before he was killed
 * Died on November 4th, 1918
 * Killed in WWI a week before armistice
 * Family found out on the day of armistice
 * He chose to fight on the front rather than be on home-duty in honor of another man who was trying to expose the true nature of war

"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.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">If in some smothering dreams you too could pace <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Behind the wagon that we flung him in, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">My friend, you would not tell with such high zest <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">To children ardent for some desperate glory, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Pro patria mori.

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" translates to "Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country"

> >> >> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Works Cited <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Analysis of Dulce Et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen - Jye's Poetry Analysis." //Jye's Poetry Analysis//. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Dulce Et Decorum Est." //Dulce Et Decorum Est//. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Redirecting." //Redirecting//. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">Shmoop Editorial Team. "Dulce Et Decorum Est Rhyme, Form & Meter." //Shmoop.com//. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">Shmoop Editorial Team. "Dulce Et Decorum Est Theme of Warfare." //Shmoop.com//. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"What Is the Meter of the Poem, "Dulce Et Decorum"? - Homework Help - ENotes.com." //Enotes.com//. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Wilfred Owen." //Poets.org//. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 16px;">"Wilfred Owen." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Jan. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Theme: || # <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori."
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs / And towards our distant rest began to trudge."
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Gas! GAS!" || # <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In war, there are as many enemies at home as are in the country one is fighting.
 * 2) Propaganda shows false glory, false honor, and ignores the atrocities of war
 * 3) Patriotism is for the ignorant civilian, the signing up soldier, the believers of propaganda, the tool of the government
 * 4) The government pumps out propaganda knowing full well of the fate of many of the people it is swaying to join the war effort. The suffering is on their hands just as much as the enemy who wields the weapon.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">There is no way out of war but death. They are certain that if they continue they will die but they trudge on regardless. Death would be a blessing to them.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">A war does not end with a treaty, or being pulled from the front, anything it touches will always remain in that state of mind. Owen's dreams are shared by many soldiers both during the war and post-war where many would find unemployment waiting at home. The "lost generation" knew nothing but the terrible war and post-traumatic stress disorder ran rampant among surviving troops.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">War is inhuman. People are slaughtering their fellow man. With technology, there is no more honor of a duel, of who fires fastest and more accurate. With technology, it is guerrilla tactics, agonizing death (quick shot verses drowning in gas), and mass murdering. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Imagery: || # <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,"
 * 1) "<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots"
 * 2) "<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light / As under a green sea, I saw him drowning."
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5;">He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5;">" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood / <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5;">Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, / <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud / Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues," || # <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Many of the men sent to battle are youthful and inexperienced. The war forces upon them a realization of mortality. They are forced to give up precious years where they should still be exploring the wonders through youthful eyes. Life suddenly put men who likely lived comfortably at home into a new, unforeseen and unprepared for miserable life cursing "through sludge."
 * 5) Auditory imagery ("coughing")
 * 6) Visual imagery in simile ("Bent double, like old beggars under sacks")
 * 7) The men are hardly able bodied, they are worn out, and can not think straight. Many would die because they are not on their toes, as described in the next stanza, where even the men who get their masks on did so fumblingly.
 * 8) The poisonous gas is overbearing Owen's fallen comrade. He is lost behind vision, as if already crossed over. Owen can scarcely see him, overwhelmed and dying in painful force.
 * 9) Visual imagery
 * 10) Owen describes vividly the true nature of death in war. There is no glory only undignified suffering. His comrade does not face death with bravery as depicted by propaganda, but in a fearful panic tries to reach to the survivors, as one would for comfort from a guardian. The
 * 11) Auditory imagery
 * 12) Through auditory and visual imagery, Owen depicted a terrible, gruesome picture of a war once glorified and rallied by the masses. He compares his fallen comrade's thrashing death to cancer and other "vile" illnesses that might be recognized back home. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Meter: || # Form
 * 1) Meter
 * 2) Rhyme scheme || # Owen began with an octave, followed by a sestet, then a couplet, and ended with a stanza of 12 lines
 * 3) The octave lets us know the miserable nature of the poem, the state of the men, and hints at Owen's overall message, contrasting already with the title
 * 4) The sestet brings about an important example, followed by a couplet which emphasizes the savage nature of death at war
 * 5) The final stanza is almost as if Owen were arguing in person against war, he rambles on and on, giving examples after examples for his cause, and referring to us in the second person. He does not stop because he wants to be sure that the point is driven home, he does not care about normality of structures, he cares about the message.
 * 6) Although a majority of it is in iambic pentameter, Owens took the liberty of diverting at points in the poem to a different arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.
 * 7) ABABCDCD EFEFGH GH IJIJKLKLMNMN ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Emotion: || # Tone / Mood
 * 1) "<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori."
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5;">Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge / <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs / And towards our distant rest began to trudge."
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"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,"
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Diction
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Connotation
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">"Distant rest"
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">"  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Green light / As under a green sea," || # The overall tone of the poem is dark, gloomy, and sad for one to read.
 * 6) Anger / betrayal from his own country / disillusioned
 * 7) Tired, resigned
 * 8) Terrified, scarred
 * 9) Desperate, frenzied almost as he tries to emphasize the horribleness of the scene
 * 10) He chooses very vulgar, very vivid words and dramatic pauses. He wants it to be as truthful and realistic as possible, he wants to hide nothing, not even the government's lies.
 * 11) Example explanations:
 * 12) Where they would stop for the night / death
 * 13) The gas / a veil from life to death / sickness ||