No. 7 of Matric 2022 Poetry Set. Line-by-line analysis and summary of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. With a Particular focus on multiple figures of speech, various imagery, context, mood, rhythm, tone, sound devices, and overall message. Hopefully providing a clear, and general oversigh...
‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
By Wilfred Owen
Poet: Was Involved in WWI, suffered a mental breakdown, wrote poetry
during institutionalisation, provided one of the most vivid accounts of what it
literally meant to be at war. And he died 6 days, at 25yrs before the end of the
war. (Not examinable, just to help give a greater understanding)
About:
A group of soldiers moving through no-man’s (very dangerous) land to get back
to the safety of their own trenches/territory.
They are exhausted / injured – struggling to function.
At one point they experience a gas attack (mustard gas) – one soldier’s death is
focused on.
The speaker makes a comment against the futility of war.
Subject/Message: The Futility of War (pointlessness or uselessness)
Tone:
Disappointment + disillusionment
Desperation + horror + disbelief
Sarcasm + accusation (Line 25-28)
Mood: Shocked |disbelief | enlightenment
Rhyme Scheme:
Regular and predictable
Shift at the end of the last line (not adhering to predictability)
Predictable: the pain and death of war is expected.
Unexpected: the lies and futility of war told by the government. (Line 28)
1|Page Created by Jaimie Morgan
, Rhythm: (adds to the setting of the poem)
Lack of punctuation → enjambement
Sound devices (alliteration + assonance)
Title:
‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Translation: It is sweet and right to die for one’s father land.
Juxtaposed
Reality of War (death/pain) vs Romance War Propaganda (sweet/right)
Sum up: This title represents the propaganda the government would use to
encourage men to enlist and justify the deaths of soldiers as being patriotic.
Key
Alliteration of plosive sounds (b, p, d, k) - emphases on war sounds
Words of fatigue imagery
Emotive Words – emphasising pain + suffering = sympathy
Significant pronouns
Repetition
Assonance – slows down pace of the poem, emphasises and prolongs suffering.
Stanza One:
Talks of the War and soldier’s suffering as a unite
Bent double, like old beggars under Alliteration: emphasises the
sacks, atmosphere (offensive sounds)
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we
cursed through sludge, “like” – Simile: strong youth are
suggested as weak and old like beggars
/ hags
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