dulce et decorum est Flashcards
(45 cards)
who wrote this poem?
Wilfred Owen
did Owen ever serve in the war?
yes- during WW1
was Owen injured?
Yes he faced shellshock
what hospital was Owen admitted into?
Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh
when did Owen write the poem?
in October 1917 with the physical and emotional trauma of soldiers in the hospital
what was fighting in WW1 like in Britain?
it was voluntary- Britain needed soldiers to fight in the war- lots of propaganda came out
what did lots of poets at the time write about?
they wrote poetry to encourage the youth to sign up for the army- Owen despised this- he calls out the false poets who glorify war
what is the poem about?
the slow trudge to an unknown place- interrupted by a gas attack
the soldiers hurry to put on their masks- one man is too slow- gets consumed by gas
what is the final stanza a direct address to?
a personal address to war journalist- Jessie Pope
what does the poem show?
the horrors of WW1
the dehumanisation of soldiers
testing the misleading notions of patriotism
what is Owen presenting war as being?
always gruesome and soldiers are the worst sufferers of the calamity
what does Owen look critically at in the poem?
the society that pushes young soldiers into dehumanising death
what style is this poem written in?
a ballad- flowing, romantic, poetical style- using a ballad outside the romantic convention, Owen accentuates the disturbing cadence of the narrative
what type of poem is this?
a visceral poem- relies on the senses
what impact did this poem have?
it is one of the most significant WW1 poems- moved away from romantic patriotism and eulogization of the war- shows its horrific reality
sarcastically critiques the propagators and supporters of the war
how does the poem begin?
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”
what does the first stanza convey?
a demonstration of pure exhaustion and mind-numbing misery
what is the context behind the soldiers walks?
British soldiers would trudge to the trenches- seeping further into France in pursuit of German soldiers
“till on the haunting…
flares we turned our backs”
what does “till on the haunting flares” foreshadow?
his memories and PTSD he faces further on into the poem
what does the line “we cursed through sludge” convey?
“cursed”- the men have been lied to about what the war would be like- the false hope and the propaganda they endured
they perhaps feel a sense of resentment
what does the first stanza do?
it minimises the war to a few exhausted soldiers although the war rages on in the background
“men marched…
asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod”
what is significant about the line “but limped on, blood-shod”?
it shows the boys’ resilience and their devotion to the country
