Dulce Et Decorum Est Tone

Wilfred Owen's poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' displays the harsh reality of soldiers during World War I. The poem focuses on the death of ane soldier after being gassed by mustard gas and the traumatic nature of such an event.

Summary of 'Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

Written In	1920
Written By	Wilfred Owen
Form	Two interlocking sonnets
Meter	Iambic pentameter is used in the bulk of the poem.
Rhyme Scheme	ABABCDCD
Poetic Devices	EnjambmentCaesuraMetaphorSimileConsonance and AssonanceAlliterationIndirect oral communication
Frequently noted imagery	Violence and warfare(Loss of) innocence and youthSuffering
Tone	Angry and bitter
Key themes	The horror of state of war
Significant	It is not 'sweet and plumbing fixtures to die for ane'due south country': war is an awful and horrifying thing to experience.

Context of 'Dulce et Decorum Est'

Biographical context

Wilfred Owen lived from eighteen March 1983 to 4 November 1918. He was a poet and fought in World War One. Owen was one of 4 children and spent his early childhood in Plas Wilmot before moving to Birkenhead in 1897.

World State of war I

Earth War One began on 28 July 1914. The war lasted just over four years earlier an armistice was called on eleven November 1918. Around 8.v million soldiers died during the war, and the heaviest loss of life occurred during the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916.

Owen received his pedagogy at the Birkenhead Institute and Shrewsbury schoolhouse. In 1915 Owen enlisted in the Artists Rifles, before beingness commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment in June 1916. After existence diagnosed with shell daze Owen was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital where he met Siegfried Sassoon.

In July 1918 Owen returned to active service in French republic and toward the stop of Baronial 1918 he returned to the front end line. He was killed in action on 4 November 1918, simply i calendar week before the signing of the Armistice. His mother did not discover out about his expiry until Armistice twenty-four hours when she received a telegram.

Shell shock: a term which is at present known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Shell daze was the result of the horrors soldiers witnessed during the war, and the psychological upshot such horrors had on them. The term was coined by British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers.

Siegfried Sassoon: an English War poet and soldier who lived from September 1886 to September 1967.

Dulce et Decorum Est, portrait of Wilfred Owen, StudySmarter Wilfred Owen.

Literary context

The majority of Owen's work was written as he was fighting in World War 1 betwixt August 1917 and 1918. Other famous anti-state of war poetry written by Owen includes 'Anthem for the Doomed Youth' (1920) and 'Futility' (1920).

World War One resulted in an era of war and anti-war verse, written most commonly by soldiers who fought and experienced the war such as Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Brooke . Poesy became an outlet for such soldiers and writers to limited and cope with the horrors they had witnessed while fighting, by expressing what they had experienced through writing.

For instance, Owen wrote much of his verse while at Craiglockhart hospital, where he was treated for crush shock between 1917 and 1918. His therapist, Arthur Brock, encouraged him to convey what he experienced during the war in poetry.

Simply five of Wilfred Owen's poems were published earlier his expiry, the majority were published afterward in collections including Poems (1920) and The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen (1963).

'Dulce et Decorum Est' poem analysis

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 balance began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

Just limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf fifty-fifty to the hoots

Of gas-shells dropping softly backside.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in fourth dimension,

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound'ring like a human being in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick dark-green lite,

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 as well could pace

Behind the carriage that we flung him in,

And lookout the white optics writhing in his face,

His hanging confront, like a devil's sick of sin;

If yous could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come up gargling from the barm-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, biting equally the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, yous would not tell with such high zest

To children agog for some desperate glory,

The onetime Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Title

The verse form'south championship 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is an allusion to an ode by the Roman poet Horace titled 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'. The quotation's meaning that it is 'sweetness and fitting to dice for i's country' juxtaposes the poem'due south contents that describe the horrors of war and declares 'Dulce et Decorum Est' to exist an 'old lie'.

Allusion: an implied reference to another text, person or event.

The juxtaposition of the poem's title with its content and final 2 lines ('The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori') underlines the meaning of Dulce et Decorum Est. The statement at the heart of the poem is that information technology is not 'sweet and plumbing fixtures to die for ane's land'. There is no celebrity in war for the soldiers; it is an awful and horrifying thing to experience.

The title 'Dulce et Decorum Est' comes from Horace's collection of vi poems known as the Roman Odes which are all focused on patriotic themes.

During his lifetime, Horace witnessed the ceremonious war which followed Julius Caesar'due south assassination, Mark Anthony'southward defeat at the battle at Actium (31 BC), and Octavian'southward (Caesar Augustus) rise to power. Horace'due south own experience of warfare influenced his writing, which essentially stated that information technology is amend to die for ane's country than to die fleeing battle.

Why do you lot think Owen has used such a famous quote in his poem? What is he critiquing?

Grade

The poem consists of ii sonnets. Although the sonnets are non in their traditional grade, there are 28 lines in the poem across four stanzas.

Southonnet: a form of a poem made upward of 1 stanza consisting of xiv lines. Usually, sonnets incorporate iambic pentameter.

Iambic pentameter: a blazon of meter that consists of v iambs (an unstressed syllable, followed past a stressed syllable) per line.

Structure

As stated, the poem is made up of two sonnets beyond four stanzas. At that place is a volta between the two sonnets, equally afterward the 2nd stanza the narrative shifts from the experiences of the entire regiment to the decease of one soldier.

Volta: a 'plough' / modify in the narrative in a verse form.

In addition to consisting of ii sonnets, the poem follows an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme and is more often than not written in iambic pentameter, two defining features of sonnets. Sonnets are a traditional grade of poetry, appearing around the 13th century.

Owen subverts the traditional sonnet structure by splitting each sonnet beyond two stanzas. This subversion of traditional poetic form is reflective of how the poem is critical of traditional conceptions of warfare and dying while fighting for one's country. Sonnets are typically considered a form of romantic poetry.

By fracturing the sonnet grade, Owen undermines the romantic associations of the form by making it more complex than a traditional sonnet. This could be a critique of how people romanticised the war-effort and dying in state of war. By taking a traditionally romantic form of poetry and subverting our expectations of its structure, Owen highlights how the expectations of soldiers entering war were fractured, their innocent perception quickly shattered.

Stanza one

The poem's first stanza consists of 8 lines and describes the soldiers as they 'trudge' forward, some 'asleep' as they walk. This stanza describes the soldiers every bit a unit, highlighting how they are all suffering, as indicated by the repetition of 'all' in the line 'All went lame; all blind'.

The danger the soldiers will soon face is foreshadowed in the stanza's concluding 2 lines, as Owen states that the soldiers are 'deafened' to the 'gas-shells' behind them, informing the reader that the soldiers cannot hear the danger heading toward them. Farther, the verb 'deaf' and substantive 'decease' are homographs, each sounding like the other but with unlike spellings and meanings. The utilise of the verb 'deaf' therefore underpins the danger of 'death' e'er-present in the soldiers' lives.

Stanza ii

The second stanza contains 6 lines. While the narrative of the second stanza still focuses on the soldiers as a unit of measurement, the activity of the poem shifts as the soldiers react to the ' gas'. A sense of urgency is created in the stanza past the exclamatory sentences in the first line and the use of active verbs such as 'yelling', 'stumbling', and 'flound'ring', calculation to the sense of panic.

Stanza three

The poem'southward 3rd stanza is considerably shorter than the first two, consisting of only two lines. The shortness of this stanza emphasises the shift in the narrative (or volta) as the narrator focuses on the actions and suffering of a single soldier who is 'guttering, choking, drowning' from the mustard gas.

Stanza 4

The poem'south last stanza consists of twelve lines. The bulk of the stanza describes the soldier's decease and how the soldiers 'flung him' in the railroad vehicle as they connected on their march later on the gas attack.

The last iv lines of the poem refer dorsum to the poem'due south championship. Wilfred Owen directly addresses the reader, 'my friend', alarm them that the phrase 'Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori' is an 'old lie'. The final line of the poem creates a pause in the iambic pentameter, foregrounding it.

Moreover, these final lines create an almost cyclical narrative, as the poem concludes as information technology began. This construction emphasises the meaning of the verse form that information technology is non 'sweetness and plumbing equipment' to die for i's country, and the fact that soldiers are existence led to believe so is as vicious as war itself.

Dulce et Decorum Est, soldiers on a battlefield, StudySmarter Earth War One Soldiers.

Poetic devices

Enjambment

Enjambment is used throughout 'Dulce et decorum est' to allow the verse form to flow from line to line. Owen'south use of enjambment contrasts with his employ of iambic pentameter and the ABABCDCD rhyme scheme, which rely on structural constraints. For instance, in the second stanza Owen writes:

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling

And flound'ring like a man in burn down or lime.—

Here, the continuation of i judgement from i line to the next underpins the continuation of the soldier's movements, emphasising the desperate state the soldier finds himself in.

Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence from i line of a poem onto the side by side.

Caesura

Caesura is used to create result in the poem to fragment the poem's rhythm. For instance, in the starting time stanza Owen writes:

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

Here, the utilize of caesura creates the brusk sentence 'men marched asleep'. By breaking up the line a matter of fact tone is created: the men are marching one-half-comatose, and many have lost their boots. The tone has a military style to it, with short abrupt sentences. Although the sentences aren't commands, they hold a similar authority due to their simplistic nature.

Why do you call up Owen wanted to fragment the rhythm of the poem? Consider how it impacts the poem'due south tone.

Language devices

Alliteration

Owen utilises alliteration throughout the poem to emphasise certain sounds and phrases. For instance in the concluding stanza in that location is the line:

And sentinel the white eyes writhing in his face up"

The alliteration of 'w' emphasises the words 'lookout man', 'white', and 'writhing', highlighting the narrator's horror as the graphic symbol slowly dies after being gassed.

Consonance and assonance

Alongside repeating the showtime letters of words, Owen repeats consonant and assonant sounds in his verse form. For instance in the line;

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs"

The consonant 'r' audio is repeated, creating an virtually growling tone. This repetition contributes to the tone of acrimony present throughout the poem and indicates the anguish of the suffering soldier.

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues."

In the higher up line, the assonant 'i' audio is repeated, placing a particular emphasis on the give-and-take 'innocent'. The emphasis on the innocence of the soldiers against the horrifying death underscores the unfair and awful nature of state of war.

Metaphor

One metaphor is used in the poem:

Drunk with fatigue

Even though the soldiers are not literally drunk on fatigue, the imagery of them interim in a drunken state exemplifies how wearied they must be.

Simile

Comparative devices such as similes are used to raise the imagery of the poem. For instance the similes:

Bent double, like quondam beggars under sacks"

and

Knock-kneed, cough like hags"

Both similes compare the soldiers to elderly figures, 'hags' and 'old beggars'. The comparative language here underpins the burnout faced past the soldiers. The bulk of soldiers would have been young boys, around the ages of 18-21, making this comparing unexpected, further highlighting how exhausted the soldiers are.

Additionally, the paradigm of these young men as 'hags' and 'onetime beggars' demonstrates how they have lost their youth and innocence since joining the state of war effort. The reality of war has aged them far beyond the age they actually are, and their innocent perception of the globe has been shattered by the reality of war.

Indirect voice communication

At the opening of the 2d stanza, Owen uses indirect speech to create an electrical temper:

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling

The unmarried-word, exclamative sentences of 'Gas! GAS!' followed past the short judgement of 'Quick, boys!' create a fragmented rhythm and panicked tone. The tone and rhythm indicate to the reader that the characters in the poem are in grave danger. This use of indirect speech adds an additional homo chemical element to the poem, making the events appear even more than vivid.

Dulce et Decorum Est, image of a gas mask from World War One, StudySmarter Gas-Mask.

The imagery and tone of 'Dulce et Decorum Est'

Imagery

Violence and warfare

A s emantic field of violence is present throughout the poem; 'blood-shod', 'yelling', 'drowning', 'writhing'. This technique, combined with a semantic field of warfare ('flares', 'gas!', 'helmets'), underpins the brutality of war. The imagery is carried throughout the poem, leaving the reader no choice but to be confronted with the horrifying images of fighting.

The use of such brutal and violent imagery contributes to the meaning of the poem past opposing the positive ethics of fighting for your country. Owen's apply of trigger-happy imagery makes it undeniable that there is no real glory in dying for your land when yous recognise the suffering that soldiers face.

Youth

Images of youth are utilised throughout the poem to contrast with the brutality of warfare, highlighting its negative effects. For instance, in the 2nd stanza, the soldiers are referred to as 'boys' while in the final stanza Owen refers to those who chose to enlist, or who may choose to do then, as 'children ardent for some drastic glory'.

These images of youth can be associated with innocence. Why practise you think Owen may have intentionally created this association?

Suffering

In that location is a clear semantic field of suffering nowadays throughout the poem. This is particularly axiomatic in Owen'due south use of litany when describing the soldier's death;

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

Here, the utilise of litany and continuous present tense emphasise the frantic and agonising actions of the soldier as he desperately tries to breathe without his gas mask.

Litany: the listing of things.

This imagery associated with suffering once once again contrasts with images of youth and innocent present in the poem. For instance the line:

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

This line underpins how the gas has damaged the 'innocent tongues' of soldiers, who at present must endure despite committing no sin. Such horrors happening to innocent people underpin the unfair and fell nature of war.

Tone

The poem has an angry and bitter tone, every bit the narrator clearly disagrees with the idea promoted by many during Earth War One that is is 'sweet and plumbing equipment' to die for i'southward land while fighting in a war. This bitter tone is particularly notable in the imagery of violence and suffering present throughout the poem.

The poet doesn't shy away from the horrors of war: Owen makes them blatantly articulate, and in doing so demonstrates his bitterness towards the reality of war and the false perception of 'dulce et decorum est'.

Themes in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' by Wilfred Owen

The horrors of war

The dominant theme throughout the verse form is the horrors of war. This theme is evident in both the literary context of Owen's writing, as he was an anti-war poet who produced much of his piece of work while 'recovering' from shell stupor.

The idea that the scenes the narrator has faced still haunt him in 'smothering dreams' indicates to the reader that the horror of war never truly leaves one. While they experience warfare through the images of 'froth-corrupted lungs' and a 'greenish bounding main' of gas present in the poem, Owen experienced such occurrences in reality, as did many other soldiers. Thus, the theme of the horror of war is nowadays in both the content and context of the poem.

Dulce et Decorum Est - Primal takeaways

Wilfred Owen wrote 'Dulce et Decorum Est' while residing at Craiglockhart hospital between 1917 and 1918. The poem was published after his decease in 1920.
The poem displays the reality of soldiers during World War One, in contrast to the belief that it is 'information technology is sugariness and fitting to die for one's country.'
The verse form consists of four stanzas of different line lengths. Although the poem does not follow a traditional sonnet construction, it comprises 2 sonnets with an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter throughout most of the poem.
Owen uses linguistic communication devices such as metaphor, simile, and indirect oral communication in the poem.
Violence and warfare as well as youth and suffering are all prevalent images throughout the poem, contributing to the theme of the horror of war.