Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through
sludge,Soldiers are supposed to be upright and dignified
as they fight for their nation yet the poet depicts them as beggars
and hags, which are more suitable for old people. Generally,
soldiers are described as representatives of a country, the
backbone of the nation. This shows how the poet views
soldiers.
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;The
usage of the words trudge and men marched asleep showed how
tired the soldiers were. Soldiers usually wear boots however these
soldiers in the poems are shod with blood on their feet.
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping slowly behind.The word drunk is
normally used for things such as alcohol or happiness, not fatigue.
It amplifies the extent of weariness the soldiers are feeling, such
that they can be deaf even to the sound of approaching
danger.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;The poet uses
alliteration like Gas! Gas! to reinforce the anger and
bitterness. There is a sense of urgency felt by the reader upon
reading the line. Ecstasy is used to describe a sense of happiness
but in this case, happiness is managing to fit the helmets on in
time which is rather ironic. The phrase clumsy helmets is a
personification used by the poet to show the panic felt by the
soldiers.
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime. -The words
stumbling and floundering brings to mind the idea of
helplessness and suffering. The simile like a man in fire or lime
illustrates agony suffered by the soldiers.
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.There is
no green sea, it is a metaphor for the gas-shells and the green
light. Instead of drowning in water, the soldier is drowning in
gas. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight exemplifies the
sense of helplessness and the feeling that the poet would never be
able to sleep without dreaming of the dying soldier.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,Dreams are normally
pleasant but smothering dreams as a metaphor would suffocate you
and drown you in nightmares. In the first three stanzas, the poet
has not addressed the listener but in line 17, the listener is
addressed directly. The poet is identifying with the listener and
showing a sense of solidarity.
The usage of the word flung shows a sense of carelessness which
is normally acquainted with garbage or rubbish, not human lives.
The poet is trying to say that war makes life worthless and
cheap.
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;The poet
engages the sense of sight and horrifies with the idea of eyes that
has no pupils struggling in the soldiers face. His hanging face,
like a devils sick of sin means to say that the image is
unthinkable as the devil cannot possibly be 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, -The poet
engages the sense of hearing, taste and touch with the sound of
gargling blood, bitter cud and sores. Harsh phrases such as
obscene as cancer, froth-corrupted lungs are used to describe the
anguish felt by the soldier. A contrast is made between vile,
incurable sores and innocent tongues. The poet is making a point
that innocent lives are lost and needless suffering is caused by
war.
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.In the last stanza, the poet makes his
final statement that young children should not be told that it is
sweet and glorious to die for their country, as it is an utter
lie.
Question: How does the poet convey the horrors of war in this
poem?
