Annotation of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen
Saturday, 14 August 2010
11:42 a.m.
Title translates to "It is sweet and decorous";
Sarcastic/ironic, opposite of the poem's actual content.
Dulce et Decorum Est
Metaphor: flares are haunting because they
look ghostly against the darkness, but also
because the war is haunting the soldiers they cannot escape it
Metaphor: men are described as drunk
because of the way they look, staggering
and uncoordinated, but also because of the
way they feel, confused and not alert.
Repetition and minor sentence used to
increase tension in the poem, convey a
sense of urgency.
Simile describes sensations the reader
may be more familiar with to show the
pain the soldier is going through.
Simile compares gas-covered landscape
seen through a gas mask to a sea.
Compares it to something the reader will
be more familiar with. Conveys a sense of
the extent and pervasiveness of the gas.
Personal pronouns appeal directly to
reader; makes the reader imagine
themselves in this situation.
Allusion to Jessie Pope, who wrote poetry
encouraging boys to go to war
Simile compares soldiers to beggars because of appearance
(ragged, dirty) but also has connotations of being uncared-for,
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
homeless, impoverished.
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs,
Simile compares soldiers to hags because coughing, slow,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
infirm as if they were old; also has negative connotations
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
(ugly, witch).
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Blood-shod describes their feet, covered in blood because they
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
have no boots. "Shod" is more commonly used to describe
horses; the use of it in this context de -humanises the soldiers.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling
They are beasts of burden, not men.
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.-Metaphor compares man suffering from gas to drowning,
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
because the gas affects lungs. Also relates to the previous
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
image of the sea.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
First person narration shows the writer is telling the story
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
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
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.
"It is sweet and decorous
To die for one's country."
Dulce Et Decorum Est Page 1
from his own experience. Helps the reader understand the
effect of the war on a soldier.
Listing helps to convey image of man suffering from
gas more clearly. Also creates a sense of
breathlessness and chaos.
Choice of adjectives with strongly negative connotations
to reinforce the horror of the situation.
Choice of words with positive connotations to provide a
contrast to the preceding verses.