Dulce et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen Flashcards
(31 cards)
when was this poem written?
1918
themes?
- power - power of war and propaganda, and the powerlessness of soldiers
- war
- time - product of WW1
- man
- death
poet context
- enlisted to fight in WW1 in 1915, aged 18
- critical of his fellow troops, due to their poor behaviour
- in 1916, he fell into a shell hole and suffered concussion and was blown up by a trench mortar; spent several days lying amongst the remains of his fellow officers
- he was diagnosed with shellshock and sent to Edinburgh for treatment - he met Siegfried Sassoon (another WW1 soldier poet) and they became best friends
- Sassoon influenced Owen’s writing
- in July 1918, Owen returned to active service; he saw it as his duty to add his voice to Sassoon’s and tell the harsh reality of WW1 warfare
- in August 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery and leadership; he wanted this so that he could prove that he was a war poet
- he died in battle a week before WW1 ended
- his writing was published posthumously
- Owen was writing in direct opposition to WW1 propaganda, as he didn’t want war to be glorified
- the first draft of this poem was dedicated to Jessie Pope
WW1 context
- chlorine gas was a popular weapon in WW1 which causes death so gas masks had to be used
- ‘Dulce et decorum est pro partia mori means ‘it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country’; these lines were commonly used by pro-war supporters
Jessie Pope ‘Who’s For the Game?’ poem context
- propaganda poem published originally in the Daily Mail, early on in WW1
- encouraged men to enlist, using rhetorical questions to persuade, or pressure, them to do so
- an idealised depiction of war is given - war is compared to a game; its harsh realities are ignored
- an example of ‘the old lie’ told ‘with such high zest’
what is the meaning of this poem?
- this poem describes a group of soldiers as they ‘trudge’ back to their base
- however, as they do so, they are attacked by chlorine gas
- all of the soldiers manage to put on their gas masks, apart from one
- this soldier suffers horrifically, and seemingly dies
- the persona of the poem relives this in their dreams
- the poem ends with the persona rejecting pro-war sentiments
what is the mood of this poem?
- this poem’s mood is overwhelmingly negative: war is difficult (‘cursed through sludge’), deadly (‘drowning’) and disgusting (‘bitter as the cud’)
- towards the end of the poem, the tone becomes more critical, as pro-war sentiment is dismissed, as shown in ‘the old lie’
what was the motivation for the poet to write this poem?
- having fought in WW1 himself, Owen rejects the pro-war sentiment ‘dulce et decorum est’ that abounded in propaganda of the time
- by showing the horrors of war ‘as under a green sea, I saw him drowning’ - he criticises those who encouraged men to enlist, such as Jessie Pope, whom the poem was originally dedicated to, and is perhaps alluded to in ‘my friend’
- through his realistic depiction of war, Owen may have wanted to demonise it
title: ‘Dulce et Decorum est’
LANGUAGE:
- the title exposes a patriotic pro-war sentiment, and so we would expect that this poem will be positive about fighting in war
- Owen subverts these expectations, and uses the pro-war phrase in an ironic way, as he had first-hand experience of the horrors of war
‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags’
IMAGERY:
- the similes emphasise how broken and weak war has left the soldiers
- they are young men who have been compared to beggars and hags
- immediately establishes a negative view of war
’.’
‘;’
STRUCTURE:
- caesura represents the stop-start journey of the soldiers
- inconsistent pace
‘cursed’
‘trudge’
‘Men marched asleep’
‘limped’
‘blood-shod’
‘lame’
‘Drunk with fatigue’
LANGUAGE:
- Owen creates a semantic field of exhaustion to reject the traditional images of heroism in war poetry
‘blood-shod’
LANGUAGE:
- suggests that their feet are bloody, emphasising the brutality of war
‘gas shells dropping softly behind’
LANGUAGE:
- the oxymoron ‘dropping softly’ highlights the soldiers’ exhaustion; the world around them no longer makes any sense
- sibilance used
‘GAS! GAS!’
STRUCTURE:
- the repitition of ‘gas’ creates a sense of urgency
- direct speech
‘Quick, boys!’
LANGUAGE:
- the exclamation marks highlight the sense of panic
‘clumsy helmets’
IMAGERY:
- by personifying the helmets as ‘clumsy’, Owen reinforces the idea that the soldiers were not expecting the gas attack
‘fumbling’
‘stumbling’
‘flound’ring’
LANGUAGE:
- the soldiers are presented as unprepared for the gas attack - rejecting the traditional image of wartime heroism
‘And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…’
‘As under a green sea, I saw him drowning’
IMAGERY:
- the triadic structure of similes amplifies the sense of suffering experienced by the soldier
- the images describe horrific ways to die that all involve excruciating pain
‘In all my dreams’
LANGUAGE:
- could be a possible reference to shellshock
- the persona is haunted by this event, and it plagues ‘all’ of their dreams
‘helpless sight’
LANGUAGE:
- the poem’s persona is powerless to do anything
‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning’
LANGUAGE:
- the present continuous verb tense in this stanza implies that this event is repeatedly playing out in the persona’s imagination - they cannot escape what they have seen
- these horrors haunt the persona
‘smothering dreams’
LANGUAGE:
- possible shellshock reference - ‘smothering’ suggests the dreams are violent and suffocating
‘watch the white eyes writhing’
STRUCTURE:
- alliteration emphasises the horror of the image
- inhumane
- awkward syntax is mimetic of the harrowing experience
