Dulce Et Decorum Est.docx

7/30/2019 Dulce Et Decorum Est.docx

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Dulce Et Decorum Est

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 tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.


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Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound'ring 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,


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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.

BACKGROUND


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- The most well-known and often quoted of Owens poetry; ties in many of the centralconcerns of his work

- Written during his recuperation at Craiglockhart hospital in Scotland, October 1917- An ironic poem, very cynical- Describes the experience of a gas attack in warfare, then uses one mans gruesomedeath to demonstrate the horror of war and expose the deception of the propaganda

about the glory of war

- Title is ironic, Owen felt that young men went to war for the wrong reasons- Veracitytruth- The veracity, immediacy and spontaneity of details he records suggest very strongly

that the poem was based directly on Owens personal experience

PURPOSE

-

Owen intended to shock the public at home into an awareness of the realities of war,- He confronts the whitewashing of patriotism by deflating the Romantic heroism

perpetuate by nationalistic myths

- Mustard gas was the secret weapon of WWI- It is this form of death the poet chooses to focus on to show how the new rules of

warfare made the old patriotic lies about the nobility of fighting for ones country

unacceptable.

- Young men sent to war without the proper knowledge- Government created a glorious image of war- Under a green sea lenses

Poem in Detail

- Soldiers are exhausted and are unable to walk upright- Their knapsacks making them look like old beggars- The soldiers trudge on until the flares which were used to illuminate the field for the

gunners to aim their cannons

- When they reach the camp they have a few days respite- They are so tired, feet covered in blood, with no boots on- So tired that it is like being drunk- Dont even notice the shells dropping behind them- Someone, officer?, realises the shells are releasing gas and yells out an urgent

warning

-- The gas masks hade circle lenses made of greenish glass- Wearer saw the world in a green misty haze- The man who had been gas had his lungs burnt and could not get enough oxygen

which was effectively drowning in a green sea

- Men watching the man dying, his life ebbing away like a dying candle


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- There was nothing the soldiers could do to save the man- More pain than he could bear, surfeit (full) of sin- Roman times: the lie that it is sweet and meet (or satisfying and right) to die for your

country

GLOSSARY

- Knapsack: backpack, leather or canvas bags carried by soldiers- Knock-kneed: having knees that point inwards slightly, suggestive of physical strain- Hag: an ugly or unpleasant old womanlike a witch- Curse: to say or think bad things; swear angrily- Sludge: thick, filthy mud- Flares: a blazes of light shot up into the sky; used to illuminate the battlefield and

make it easier to see enemy targets

- Blood-shod: feet voered in blood (shod wering footgear/ shoes)- Outstripped: overtaken, exceeded- Five-nines: German 5.9 inch calibre artillery shells- Lime: quicklime made from calcium oxide (CaO) a caustic solid which can burn

deeply into exposed flesh. Water renders it harmless

- Cud: regurgitated food returned to the mouth for further chewing- Ardent: passionate- Zest: enthusiasm, excitement, zeal and passion

IDEAS:

- What is the subject matter, content and Owens thoughts about the topic?THEMES:

- What is the message Owen wants us to take away after we have read the poem?- Are there any universal insights to how people behave?- Does he make generalisations about humanity and people?

Futility how people deal with grief

Disabled

- How has Owen shaped our perceptions about the topic?- What is your personal response?

FORM

- Has Owen chosen a specific form of poetry to express his ideas and themes?- What contribution does form have to the overall meaning of the poem?- Is the use of that form intended to be ironic or serious?- Appropriates the use of various forms,

LANGUAGE

- Which words does Owen use for his subject matter?- What tone do the words create


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- How do the words convey his attitude and feelings- How do the words affect the way we respond?

POETIC TECHNIQUES

- Owen has deliberately chosen a range of visual and aural techniques. Thesetechniques are used to create an image that Owen wants to share with us. Each timeyou explain you identify a specific technique you must explain its purpose and effect.

- Visual techniques: metaphor, simile, personification, imagery.- Aural techniques: onomatopoeia, assonance, alliteration, rhythm, rhyme scheme

OVERVIEW

Form: four stanzas, basic pattern of rhyming alternate lines (abab etc) tends to bind units of

meaning together.

- Stanza 1: 8 limes, describes the situation- Stanza 2: 6 lines effect of the gas attack- The last two lines of this stanza form similar rhyming pattern with the isolated couplet

in stanza 3, linking these two degrees of unreality. The repetition of drowning

intensifies this link.

- Stanza 3: 2 lines, effect on the persona- Stanza 4: 12 lines, turns it into a shared experience with the reader, Owen directly

addresses the audience, calls a response for action from the reader,

Summary

- 1. Before the attack, 1st person plural, past tense narration- 2.during the attack itself, 1st person, present participles- 3. Aftermath: psychological effects, 1st person singular- 4. The aftermath: directed towards the responder, 1st person addressing the reader in

2ndperson (you) accusing tone

Past present future

IDEAS

- Centres around the horror of a gas attack, with events before and aftereffectsdescribed vividly

- Physical and psychological effects of war, the trauma of witnessing- The indignity of death anthem of doomed youth, showing the undignified

unceremonious events on the battlefield, focuses on the human side of it

- Allusion to patriotic odes of the past used to glorify war: this is used ironicallyTHEMES

- Betrayal parable,- Some higher authority should have intervened- Sacrifice parable

- Pity


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- The inglorious nature of war- Using the Latin ode,

TONE- Bitter, horrified, disgusted and resentfulIRREGULAR RHYTHM

- Symbolic of the dysfunction he sees in war and in the society that sends its men towar

RHYME

- Is strong (abab)LANGUAGE

- Is emotive and graphic visual imagery also demands an emotional response from thereader. However, this doesnt detract from the force of his intellectual argument

TITLE

- The full ode comes at the end of the poem in Latin, which translates as: it is sweet(satisfying) and fitting (noble/right/decorous) to die for ones country.

- This heavily ironicfor Owen there is nothing dignified or beautiful about the deathhe has seen

- He is satirising an ode by Horace, an ancient Roman poet, who was famous for hispatriotism. Owen subverts the myths of English history and patriotism

- Alludes to a historical figure- Ode: a lyric poem praising or glorifying an event or person

ALLITERATION- Unites certain words, affects the rhythm, draws attention, emphasises/ replicates

sound to create tone (hushed, harsh, demanding, etc.)

Notes of Stanza 1: Imagery, alliteration, similes, metaphor

bent double made half-men physically broken under the burden of hardship andpain; contrasts with the patriotic image of upright, strong young men.

Simile #1 like old beggars an unexpected comparison that creates an impressionof low status, reduced humanity, conjures ideas of poverty and degradation; suggests

youth have aged prematurely by their experience.

knock-kneed alliteration draws attention; laborious

Simile #2 coughing like hags sickly, punctures the lie of the traditional image ofsoldiers as conquering heroes. Coughing also foreshadows effect of the gas to come.

cursed shows their unhappiness; war is a scourge on mankind i.e. a curse sludge a dirty, evocative image haunting flares an unsettling adjective; night-time, they are so close to the front

that the gunners flares are now behind them

all went lame, all blind.. deaf even exhaustion deadens their senses drunk with fatigue metaphor; out of control

Notes on Stanza 2: repetition, punctuation, imagery, present tense


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gas this is the focus of this stanza. Repetition and punctuation marks this shift asthe poem moves from the drudgery of marching to an explosion of activity.

Exclamation mark shows panic.

boys reminds us of their youth ecstasy a striking, unexpected comparison which gains our attention. Alliteration of fumbling / fitting heightens the urgency and reinforces clumsy

they are unused to this new weapon and the masks are unwieldy/ difficult to put on

in time creates faster pace (sound of f)

Use of present tense (present participles) fumbling, stumbling, floundering,drowning in the moment, highly emotive and visual.

just in time anticlimaxthe men are safe just in time.The next line But changes this.

floundringlike a man in fire or lime... simile recalls a fish out of war, ma n unableto breathe... helpless

Fire/limeimagery. Both destructive/corrosive and Owen makes it clear that gas is asdeadly as these, albeit invisible

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light contributes to the surrealatmosphere. Green lenses of the gas masks make the scene nightmarish.

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning repeats green, sickly colour. I sawindicates firsthand experience, Owen can attest to the truth and horror of this.

Heightens the immediacy.

Drowning not literally, but lacking airmetaphor that builds on the image of thegreen sea.

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Dulce Et Decorum Est.docx