Dulce et Decorum Est

• who wrote dulce?

  Wilfred Owen
• when was Owens killed in war?

  in action last week of war
• when did Wilfred Owen fight as an officer?

  during WW1 1914 - 1918
• who does Owens address in the poem?

  jesse pope
• who was jessie pope?

  a supporter of war who sought to recruit through poetry
• what is the poem a rejection to?

  Horaces maxim that it is sweet and right to die for your country
• what was jessie pope's poem?

  Who's for the Game?
• what does jessie pope use to encourage people to enlist for war?

  writes propaganda poems

  rhetorical questions

  idealised depiction of war
• when did Owens enlist for war?

  18 years old
• what was Owens critical of?

  troops due to poor behaviour
• what did Owens want ?

  He didnt want war to be glorified
• what happened to Owens in 1916

  he fell into a shell hole and suffered a concussion
• what was Owens diagnosed with?

  Shell Shock
• what was Owens awarded in 1918?

  The Military Cross for his bravery
• Structure

  Double sonnet
• simile

  " Bent double like old beggars under sacks " , " coughing like hags "
• Dulce et Decorum Est

  The title expresses a patriotic pro war sentiment so we first expect the poem to show war as positive however Owens subverts this and uses this as ironic
• what is war compared to in Jessie Popes poem " whos for the game "?

  war is compared to a game its harsh realities are ignored
• " knock - kneed , like hags "


  Semantic field of exhaustion to reject traditional images of heroism in war poetry
• " gas shells dropping softly behind them "


  oxymoron highlights soldiers exhaustion
• caesura in stanza 1

  represents stop and start journey of soldiers
• " men marched asleep " , " drunk with fatigue "


  contrast with traditional marching imagery. Alliteration and caesura make it a powerful factual statement
• " Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! "

  the repetition shows sense of urgency - sense of panic with capitals " boys " - comradeship and innocence of children
• " stumbling " , " fumbling " , "floudring "


  soldiers are presented as unprepared , rejecting the traditional image or wartime heroism
• " clumsy helmets "


  personifies helmets as clumsy and reinforces the idea that soldiers didnt expect a gas attack
• " he plunges at me , guttering , choking , drowning "
• " his hanging face, like a devils sick of sin "


  connotations of religion show evil of war as ene devil would be sickened by it
• why is the second stanza stood out?

  to emphasis the fact that seeing his fellow soldiers drown was a vivid memory
• " smothering dreams "


  possible shellshock reference ; this may show that dreams are violent / suffocating
• critical tone has been used to dismiss propaganda and pro-war views
• " My friend "

  direct address - Jessie pope or pro war supporters
• " The old lie : Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori "


  Owens rejects pro war sentiment with authority as he has seen people die for their country and is aware of how excruciating and horrific it is