Dulce et Decorum Est (SQA National 5 English): Revision Note

What is the poem about? 

The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was written by English poet Wilfred Owen in 1917 and published after his death in 1920. This war poem graphically portrays the horrors of war on the front line, detailing the agonising death of a soldier after a gas attack. The content of the poem is in stark contrast with its Latin title, which means, “It is fitting and sweet to die for one’s country”.

Key words 

Poem analysis

'Dulce et Decorum Est' by Wilfred Owen

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 gas-shells dropping softly 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

Language

• Sensory language renders the descriptions vivid and impactful; visually, Owen portrays men “bent double”; audibly he captures the “hoots” of gas shells, and the phrase “ecstasy of fumbling” conveys the physical sensation of panic

• Similes comparing soldiers with “old beggars” and “hags” juxtaposes sharply with the idea of soldiers as strong and fit

• The use of alliteration and sibilance imbues the poem with a linguistic harshness that reflects the distressing setting 

• The diction “blood-shod” and “cud” evokes animal imagery to highlight the dehumanising impact of war. The words “devil’s”, “writhing”, “froth-corrupted” and “vile” evoke imagery reminiscent of hell

• The metaphor “I saw him drowning” depicts a strong visual image, conveying the shocking event as momentarily drowning out sound, as if submerged in water

• Stanza one maintains a consistent rhyme scheme, connoting an orderliness and discipline as the soldiers march. This pattern is interrupted in the second and third stanzas, reflecting the chaotic scene

• The Latin phrase “dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori” reveals Owen’s condemnation of the glorification of war which strengthen the impact of his argument

Structure

• The line beginning “Knock-kneed” deviates from the typical iambic pentameter pattern, thus reflecting the challenges of the soldiers’ movement 

• The third stanza is isolated within the poem to emphasise the psychological horror of witnessing (and reliving) the soldier’s agonising death

• Caesura highlights the the soldiers’ plight, forcing the reader to pause after each description: “All went lame; all blind;/Drunk with fatigue”

• By using the first person, Owen compels the reader to envision witnessing the harrowing events described

Form

• Stanza one maintains a consistent rhyme scheme, connoting a orderliness and discipline as the soldiers march. This pattern is interrupted in the second and third stanzas, reflecting the chaotic scene

• The deliberate disruption to a traditional poem form, with varied stanza and line lengths reinforces the chaos and horror of battle

Overview of themes 

Historical and literary context 

• Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the First World War and a highly acclaimed poet:

  • In 1916 he sustained injuries in battle and remained trapped in a shell hole for 12 days, close to the dead body of one of his comrades

  • Following this traumatic experience, he was diagnosed with shell shock before being transferred to Edinburgh for treatment

  • It was there that he formed a friendship with another World War I poet, Siegfried Sassoon 

  • Based on his own experiences on the battlefield, Owen wrote ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ a year before he was killed in action in 1917

• The Latin lines “Dulce et decorum Est/Pro patria mori” (“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”) come from the Roman poet, Horace:

  • The lines were often quoted as propaganda by those who were pro-war and wanted to encourage people to fight

  • A propaganda poem called ‘Who’s for the game?’ by Jessie Pope was published in a British newspaper during the First World War promoting patriotism, which presented the war as a game — “the biggest that’s played” — and fighting as “fun”

  • Owen wrote ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ as a rebuttal to such propaganda by depicting the harsh realities of war

  • He even included an ironic dedication to Jessie Pope in the original manuscript