Dulce et Decorum Est Flashcards
by Wilfred Owen — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Dulce et Decorum Est
What are the soldiers doing at the beginning of the poem?
They are retreating from the front lines, exhausted and limping through sludge, described as bent double like old beggars. Many have lost their boots and are marching half-asleep.
What sudden event disrupts the soldiers march?
A poison gas attack strikes. Someone yells "Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!" and the soldiers scramble in an "ecstasy of fumbling" to fit their clumsy helmets (gas masks) in time.
What happens to the soldier who cannot get his mask on?
He is engulfed by the chlorine gas and is seen "floundering like a man in fire or lime," drowning in the thick green light. He is later flung into a wagon, choking and gargling blood from his corrupted lungs.
How does the poem conclude?
The speaker directly addresses the reader ("My friend"), arguing that anyone who witnessed such suffering would never repeat "the old Lie" that it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country.
Who is the speaker of the poem?
The speaker is a World War I soldier, understood to be Owen himself, who witnesses the gas attack firsthand and is haunted by the memory of the dying soldier in his dreams.
Who was Jessie Pope and what is her connection to the poem?
Jessie Pope was a civilian poet who wrote popular patriotic verses encouraging young men to enlist. Early drafts of the poem were dedicated to her as a target of Owens critique, though the dedication was later removed.
Who is the "My friend" addressed in the final stanza?
The ironic phrase "My friend" targets anyone who glorifies war without experiencing it -- originally Jessie Pope, but broadened to include all propagandists, politicians, and civilians who repeat patriotic lies.
What is the central theme of Dulce et Decorum Est?
The central theme is the brutal reality of war versus its false glorification. Owen exposes the lie that dying for ones country is noble or glorious by presenting graphic, firsthand images of suffering.
How does the poem explore the theme of trauma?
The speaker confesses that the dying soldiers image haunts "all my dreams" -- he "plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." This two-line stanza captures the inescapable psychological damage of witnessing death in war.
What is "the old Lie" that Owen refers to?
It is the Latin phrase "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" (it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country), attributed to the Roman poet Horace and widely used as a patriotic slogan during World War I.
How does Owen criticize propaganda in the poem?
Owen challenges those who tell "children ardent for some desperate glory" the lie of noble sacrifice. By juxtaposing graphic battlefield reality with the lofty Latin motto, he exposes propaganda as a deadly deception.
Identify two similes from the opening stanza and explain their effect.
"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks" and "coughing like hags" compare young soldiers to aged, decrepit figures. They immediately strip away any heroic image and emphasize the dehumanizing toll of trench warfare.
What extended metaphor does Owen use to describe the gas attack?
Owen uses an extended drowning metaphor. The gassed soldier is seen through "thick green light, / As under a green sea" and is described as "drowning." The word drowning is repeated three times across two stanzas.
What is the poems rhyme scheme and how does Owen use half-rhyme?
The poem follows an ABABCDCD pattern but frequently uses half-rhyme (slant rhyme) such as sacks/backs and sludge/trudge. This creates a sense of dissonance that mirrors the disorder and unease of the battlefield.
How does Owen use onomatopoeia in the poem?
Words like "guttering," "choking," and "gargling" mimic the actual sounds of a man dying from gas poisoning. These harsh, guttural sounds force the reader to experience the horror aurally, not just visually.
What role does irony play in the poem?
The entire poem is built on dramatic irony: the title promises a noble sentiment about dying for ones country, but the content reveals the opposite. The final revelation of this phrase as "the old Lie" completes the ironic reversal.
Why is the third stanza only two lines long?
The isolated couplet ("In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning") serves as a haunting bridge between the battlefield scene and the speakers direct address, emphasizing how the trauma persists in memory.
What are "Five-Nines" in the poem?
Five-Nines are 5.9-caliber shells (artillery rounds) used by the German army in World War I. Owen describes them as "tired" and "outstripped" because the soldiers have moved beyond their range.
What does "blood-shod" mean?
Blood-shod means having feet covered or shod in blood rather than shoes. It describes soldiers who have lost their boots and are marching with bleeding, blistered feet -- a vivid image of physical degradation.
What does "ecstasy of fumbling" mean in context?
Here "ecstasy" is used in its older sense of a frenzied, out-of-body state rather than pleasure. It describes the panicked, desperate scrambling of soldiers trying to fit their gas masks before the chlorine reaches them.
What is the significance of the line "All went lame; all blind"?
This line uses stark, monosyllabic words and the repetition of "all" to convey total, universal suffering. Every soldier is damaged -- the line reduces a marching army to a collective image of disability and helplessness.
Why is the image of "white eyes writhing in his face" so powerful?
The phrase combines visual horror with unnatural movement -- eyes do not normally writhe. It captures the dying soldiers agony in a surreal, nightmarish image that makes the readers comfortable distance from war impossible to maintain.