Dulce et Decorum est
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Listen to the Poem |
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling, 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... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. 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, Obscene as cancer, 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. |
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The context of the poem.
This poem was written in October 1917 when Owen was in Craiglockhart Hospital. It was revised in early 1918. In Owen’s “Table of Contents” it is under the heading “Indifference at home”. He sent it to his mother with the words: “Here is a gas poem done yesterday...The famous Latin tag (from Horace, Odes, 111.ii.13) means of course ‘It is sweet and meet (noble) to die for one’s country.’ Sweet! and decorous!”
One of the drafts of the poem bears the dedication ‘To Jesse Pope etc’. She and those like her are therefore the ‘friend’ of line 25. She was a writer of light verse who turned to patriotic themes when the war broke out and she published many verses in the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, exhorting young men to join up. Owen was greatly concerned about the patriotism of people who knew nothing of the horrors of fighting and Dulce et Decorum Est is an attempt to show up authors with such views.
It is a poem dictated by the truth, not by beauty. It is realistic in its approach. Its tone, however, is not of compassion but of indignation and bitterness. It confronts the society of the day but also is able to reach out to all the ‘civilized’ societies. It is a confronting and powerful poem.
As is always the case with Owen, there are well chosen words that deepen the poem’s meaning and make it vivid: “haunting flares” which transform the whole setting of the poem into a nightmare. Literally the bombs are tired: “outstripped Five-Nines”, but it is the fatigue of the men that makes them seem so. The “ecstasy of fumbling” evokes both the sharpness of fear and the clumsiness of exhaustion. “Guttering” conveys the sound of the last flickers of life in the moments before a painful death. The tone of Jesse Pope’s exhortative verses is summed up with “such high zest”.
Owen’s words are intense and arresting, delivering a poem of such intensity and horror that manages to capture scene after scene of a hideous, pointless war
One of the drafts of the poem bears the dedication ‘To Jesse Pope etc’. She and those like her are therefore the ‘friend’ of line 25. She was a writer of light verse who turned to patriotic themes when the war broke out and she published many verses in the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, exhorting young men to join up. Owen was greatly concerned about the patriotism of people who knew nothing of the horrors of fighting and Dulce et Decorum Est is an attempt to show up authors with such views.
It is a poem dictated by the truth, not by beauty. It is realistic in its approach. Its tone, however, is not of compassion but of indignation and bitterness. It confronts the society of the day but also is able to reach out to all the ‘civilized’ societies. It is a confronting and powerful poem.
As is always the case with Owen, there are well chosen words that deepen the poem’s meaning and make it vivid: “haunting flares” which transform the whole setting of the poem into a nightmare. Literally the bombs are tired: “outstripped Five-Nines”, but it is the fatigue of the men that makes them seem so. The “ecstasy of fumbling” evokes both the sharpness of fear and the clumsiness of exhaustion. “Guttering” conveys the sound of the last flickers of life in the moments before a painful death. The tone of Jesse Pope’s exhortative verses is summed up with “such high zest”.
Owen’s words are intense and arresting, delivering a poem of such intensity and horror that manages to capture scene after scene of a hideous, pointless war
Analysis of the Poem
The poem opens with a series of images that directly undermine or subvert the images depicted in propaganda posters of the time. Upright, proud images are subverted by the simile "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed". The images of healthy young soldiers with rosy cheeks are replaced with the simile "coughing like hags". Note too that images of masculinity are replaced with images of aged femininity. The first two lines confront the reader with a sharp contrast to the proud soldiers of their imaginations and the propaganda of the time. This is carried on through the poem, with the soldier's direct gaze replaced by "All went lame; all blind", wholesomeness giving way to "Drunk with fatigue" and "blood-shod" feet.
Imagery is further evoked through Owen's use of onomatopoeia in "sludge", "trudge" and "hoots" so the audience can be fully transported from the comfort of their homes to the harsh realities of war. The metaphor of "haunting flares" completes the imagery as ghostly flashes of light flicker in the background.
The tone of the poem is becoming more lethargic with the soporific alliteration in "Men marched...many" and the long vowel sounds in the the repeated "All...all". Even the weapons seem exhausted as they are personified as "tired, outstripped Five-Nines". The rhythm is slow and plodding, lulling the audience into a sense of exhaustion and conveying the mood of the soldiers. This creates a sharp contrast to the next stanza.
Stanza two contrasts sharply in tone and rhythm to convey the shock and horror of the gas attack. The exclamation marks, single word sentences and capitalisation in "Gas! GAS! Quick boys!" break the rhythm and create a sense of terrified alertness. The "ecstasy of fumbling" expresses the visceral adrenaline surge felt by the men. The simile "flound'ring like a man in fire or lime" layers images of burning to emphasis the pain and horror of the lung-burning gas. Verbs such as "yelling", "flound'ring" and "stumbling" create a clear image of the terrified action and movement of the soldier.
The tone shifts again as the perspective shifts to the narrator's point of view from inside the gas mask. There is a sense of detachment or 'separation' from the action, depicting the sensation of wearing the mask. The underwater simile contributes to the surreal sense of separation in "Dim, through the misty panes...As under a green sea". This is carried through in "I saw him drowning" to give the reader insight into the horror of such a death.
The third stanza is very short - a bridge that takes the reader from the war zone, into the nightmares of the speaker. Throughout the poem, the use of first person creates a sense of authenticity - we believe this is real experience. Here it is most evident. The asyndeton in "He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning" causes the lines and ideas to linger, fading out like a dream. The verbs carry the drowning metaphor through in "plunges...guttering, choking, drowning", making the reader as unable to escape the imagery as the writer is.
The final stanza reeks of the poet's bitterness towards Jesse Pope and those like her who wrote cheerful, positive poems and articles expounding the heroism and comradeship of war. The "you" in the lines is both the writers and the general public at home who needed to be made aware of the truth of war. The verb "flung" is used to emphasise the lack of dignity of the dying man - a concept conveyed in Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth".
Owen then goes on to layer horrific image upon horrific image to force his audience to see what he saw - to experience what he experienced. He has said he wishes "you too could pace / Behind the wagon" and then goes on to force the reader to do so. We cannot escape the visceral, violent and horrific images - "the white eyes writhing", the "hanging face" that emphasises the desperate man's bulging eyes and tongue, and the tortured imagery in the simile of the face that is "like a devil's sick of sin". Owen's imagery does not stop with sight. He completes the horror with the onomatopoeia of "gargling" and the similes "obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud.." where harsh consonants such as 'c', 'b' and 't' spit out his disgust. The hyperbolic imagery of "vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues" should be overdone, but layer after layer of horrific imagery builds to this final crescendo, creating a bitter, almost sadistic tone that will not be ignored and forces the reader to confront the horrors to which they are subjecting the men they sent to war.
Owen evokes a sense of guilt in the reader with recurring images of corrupted innocence in "the froth-corrupted lungs", "obscene" gargling and "sores on innocent tongues". The stanza resonates with his horror at the destruction of youth and innocence prevalent in so many of his poems.
The final four lines become even more bitter in the sarcastic reference to "My friend" and the rude contrast to the horrors of the stanza in "high zest".
Owen refers to the recruited soldiers as passionate children in "children ardent for some desperate glory" to amplify their innocence which has been so corrupted by the experience of war.
The bitterness resonates in the emphasising capitalisation of "Lie" and the allusion to Horace's tales of heroism in the quote, "Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori. The final three words stand alone on the final line, resonating beyond the confines of the poem.
Imagery is further evoked through Owen's use of onomatopoeia in "sludge", "trudge" and "hoots" so the audience can be fully transported from the comfort of their homes to the harsh realities of war. The metaphor of "haunting flares" completes the imagery as ghostly flashes of light flicker in the background.
The tone of the poem is becoming more lethargic with the soporific alliteration in "Men marched...many" and the long vowel sounds in the the repeated "All...all". Even the weapons seem exhausted as they are personified as "tired, outstripped Five-Nines". The rhythm is slow and plodding, lulling the audience into a sense of exhaustion and conveying the mood of the soldiers. This creates a sharp contrast to the next stanza.
Stanza two contrasts sharply in tone and rhythm to convey the shock and horror of the gas attack. The exclamation marks, single word sentences and capitalisation in "Gas! GAS! Quick boys!" break the rhythm and create a sense of terrified alertness. The "ecstasy of fumbling" expresses the visceral adrenaline surge felt by the men. The simile "flound'ring like a man in fire or lime" layers images of burning to emphasis the pain and horror of the lung-burning gas. Verbs such as "yelling", "flound'ring" and "stumbling" create a clear image of the terrified action and movement of the soldier.
The tone shifts again as the perspective shifts to the narrator's point of view from inside the gas mask. There is a sense of detachment or 'separation' from the action, depicting the sensation of wearing the mask. The underwater simile contributes to the surreal sense of separation in "Dim, through the misty panes...As under a green sea". This is carried through in "I saw him drowning" to give the reader insight into the horror of such a death.
The third stanza is very short - a bridge that takes the reader from the war zone, into the nightmares of the speaker. Throughout the poem, the use of first person creates a sense of authenticity - we believe this is real experience. Here it is most evident. The asyndeton in "He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning" causes the lines and ideas to linger, fading out like a dream. The verbs carry the drowning metaphor through in "plunges...guttering, choking, drowning", making the reader as unable to escape the imagery as the writer is.
The final stanza reeks of the poet's bitterness towards Jesse Pope and those like her who wrote cheerful, positive poems and articles expounding the heroism and comradeship of war. The "you" in the lines is both the writers and the general public at home who needed to be made aware of the truth of war. The verb "flung" is used to emphasise the lack of dignity of the dying man - a concept conveyed in Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth".
Owen then goes on to layer horrific image upon horrific image to force his audience to see what he saw - to experience what he experienced. He has said he wishes "you too could pace / Behind the wagon" and then goes on to force the reader to do so. We cannot escape the visceral, violent and horrific images - "the white eyes writhing", the "hanging face" that emphasises the desperate man's bulging eyes and tongue, and the tortured imagery in the simile of the face that is "like a devil's sick of sin". Owen's imagery does not stop with sight. He completes the horror with the onomatopoeia of "gargling" and the similes "obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud.." where harsh consonants such as 'c', 'b' and 't' spit out his disgust. The hyperbolic imagery of "vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues" should be overdone, but layer after layer of horrific imagery builds to this final crescendo, creating a bitter, almost sadistic tone that will not be ignored and forces the reader to confront the horrors to which they are subjecting the men they sent to war.
Owen evokes a sense of guilt in the reader with recurring images of corrupted innocence in "the froth-corrupted lungs", "obscene" gargling and "sores on innocent tongues". The stanza resonates with his horror at the destruction of youth and innocence prevalent in so many of his poems.
The final four lines become even more bitter in the sarcastic reference to "My friend" and the rude contrast to the horrors of the stanza in "high zest".
Owen refers to the recruited soldiers as passionate children in "children ardent for some desperate glory" to amplify their innocence which has been so corrupted by the experience of war.
The bitterness resonates in the emphasising capitalisation of "Lie" and the allusion to Horace's tales of heroism in the quote, "Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori. The final three words stand alone on the final line, resonating beyond the confines of the poem.
Elizabeth Giles
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Questions on the Poem
STANZA ONE
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STANZA TWO
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STANZA THREE
- In this stanza, how does Owen use verbs to paint the gruesome reality of a gas attack?
- Explain the effect of the asyndeton in "He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.".
- We realize in stanza three that Owen is using first person to tell this story. How does this sense of immediacy and intimacy work to the composer’s advantage in stanza three?
STANZA FOUR
- This stanza opens with Owen attacking those at home who saw only the glory and nobility of the fight. “You” however, speaks to all readers. Explain how he creates a confronting and personal tone.
- Owen chooses his words carefully with “We flung him in”. Why has he chosen to use the verb ‘flung’? How might it connect to some of Owen's other poems?
- Owen continues to choose words that paint a horrifying scene. This is a long stanza. The first 8 lines are filled with image upon horrible image. Deconstruct these lines to understand how Owen uses language to effect. For example: the word ‘writhing’ denotes an especially virulent kind of pain.
- The simile “like a devil’s sick of sin’ seems not to make sense. How could the devil ever be sick of sin? Why does Owen use this simile?
- Lines 21-24 heap horror upon horror until we feel that we can take no more. Owen does not spare us. In fact, he seems driven to describe what is before his very eyes, what haunts him in his dreams. It is a vivid picture, perhaps because Owen relives the scene over and over again each time he closes his eyes. Man’s inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds here. This is the ultimate in barbaric behaviour—civilised man using all his skill to design such a tortuous killing device. Examine these lines and discuss the images created.
- Line 25 begins “My friend”. To whom is Owen referring? What tone is being used?
- Why does Owen refer to children in line 26?
- What tone does Owen adopt in the last 4 lines of the poem?
- Describe the poem's structure. Why do you think Owen has structured the poem in the way that he has?
- What is the central idea of the poem? What is Owen trying to highlight for his readers?
Resources
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Useful Sites
A detailed video lecture on the poem
A graphic animation of the poem
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