Dulce Flashcards
(13 cards)
Rough plan
Opening - effects of war on soldiers
Middle - focus on mental effects, one soldier
End - anti-patriotism
Opening quotes
âKnock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludgeâ
âBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigueâ
Middle quotes
âAnd floundâring like a man in fire or limeâ
âIn all my dreamsâŚ/He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.â
End quotes
âIf in some smothering dreams you too could pace/ Behind the wagon that we flung him inâ
âThe old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori.â
âKnock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludgeâ
- consonance paired with caesurae slows pace of line evoking painful efforts of soldiers as well as coldness felt
- simile comparing to old, ugly women demonstrates how war reduces masculinity, contrasting with propaganda painting soldiers as manly, patriotic
- no longer marching with pride but trdging with exhaustion
- goes against ironic title âsweet and fitting isâ
âBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigueâ
- series of hyperboles emphasises and elaborates on their physical conditions
- âblood-shodâ dehumanises soldiers as shod describes horses typically
- imagery of wearing shoes of blood, suggesting immense pain and suffering
- caesurae mimics impaired movement, difficulty with each step
- no exceptions through âallâ
- metaphor of being light headed with tiredness as if drunk, senses not fully functioning
âAnd floundâring like a man in fire or limeâ
- shifts focus on collectively to an individual soldier
- verb âflounderâ can mean to struggle in mud/water suggesting suffocation or mentle struggling
- simile indicates corrosive effect of gas as lime is used to decompose dead bodies, foreshadows death
- for common reader âfireâ is easier to understand with hellish connotations, juxtaposing with ideas of eternal reward for martyrs
âIn all my dreamsâŚ/He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowningâ
- present tense not past anymore
- persona haunted by death which plagues âallâ dreams and seems inescapable
- could be reference to shellshock
- rhyme scheme continues from stanza 2 but detachment adds to sense of deformity reflecting mental damage and physical
- this stanza present is connected to past through rhyme scheme, inextricably linked
- feels personally responsible âmeâ
- tricolon of present continuous verbs implies it is repeatedly playing in imagination
- âdrowningâ rhymes with itself (present continuous) implying his death is not finished, due to inability to leave behind death
- guttering suggest light of life being extinguished
âIf in some smothering dreams you too could pace/ Behind the wagon that we flung him inâ
- last stanza is one long conditional sentence, if the reader could experience what the speaker does
- smothering feels like he is suffocating like the soldier, smothered in guilt
- shell shock
- hurried disposal of death with no ceremony, identity lost
- lack of patriotism
âThe old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori.â
- capitalisation of âLâ suggests that lie is well established, not a misconception but a lie
- Latin title is now fully ironic
- Latin makes it seem prestigious, which could show that people wonât fully understand what theyâll face if the fight for their country
- âsweet and fitting is to die for your countryâ
- abrupt end suggests phrase responsible for soldierâs lives ending abruptly
- lies about patriotism, chivalry, honour
Structure
- alternate rhyme scheme shows relentless suffering of soldiers
- inconsistent iambic pentameter adds to unpredictable nature of war
- frequent caesurae cuts line like lives short
- 28 lines (double sonnet) mocks love for war
Context
- Owen enlisted to fight in WW1 in 1915
- he fell into a shell hole, suffered concussion and was blown up by a trench mortar
- returned to active service in 1918 finding out his close friend Sassoon was shot and killed and felt it was his duty to add to harsh reality of warfare
- published posthumously
- chlorine gas a weapon used by both sides
Overview
Owen uses his poem as a vehicle to dismantle the romanticised notions of war, exposing its brutalities, to challenge the propoganda that dying for oneâs country is patriotic. Notably, Owenâs experience in WW1 where he suffered concussion and was diagnosed with shell shock informed his writing which was published posthumously.
