Dulce et Decorum Est

Cards (32)

  • 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