Dulce et decorum est

• Context in dulce et decorum est

  Wrote in the First World War which Owen had first handedly experienced

  describes a chlorine gas attack it was a distinctive green colour which would cause extreme breathing problems ultimately drowning the soldiers
• ’men marched asleep’


  metaphor used to emphasise the soldiers exhaustion and lack of sleep the soldiers had

  may also represent the routine the soldiers had to repeat daily that they could do it in their sleep
• ‘all went lame; all blind’


  repetition used here to emphasise the fast that nobody was spared everyone was affected by the war emphasising the the brutality
• ‘drunk with fatigue’


  Metaphor that the soldiers were so disoriented that they might aswell have been drunk Or that they actually felt drunk. They are so tired they dont even know what they are doing putting their lives in more danger
• ‘Gas! Gas! Quick boys‘


  immediate contrast from slow to quick the usage of exclamation mark is to startle the reader similar to the soldiers and the shouting

  the quick change could highlight how quick it could be to die in the war
• ‘Guttering,choking,drowning‘


  the three emphasises the agonising manner of the soldiers death emphasises the cost of human life in the war

  the progressiveness of the words worsening shows that death was unavoidable and inevitable

  the use of the one line stanza isolates the soldier as this is the most lonely death drowning in gas as everyone runs to save themselves
• ‘The old lie:Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’


  wrote in Latin making it sound more prestigious and traditional.

  owen sarcastically uses this phase as he believes those who say it are wrong
• structure in dulce et decorum est

  split into stanzas of varying line length showing wars unpredictable and dramatic nature

  ABAB rhyme reflects the routines in war which had to continue no matter the chaos which was represented in the line lengths