Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, till on the haunting flares 2 we turned our backs and towards our distant rest 3 began to trudge. All went lame all blind drunk with fatigue deaf even to the hoots 4 of tired, outstripped 5 five nines 6 that dropped behind. Gas! 7 gas! quick, boys! – an ecstasy of fumbling, fitting the clumsy helmets 8 just in time but someone still was yelling out and stumbling, and flound'ring like a man in fire or lime 9.

Dim, through the misty panes 10 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, 11 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, to children ardent 14 for some desperate glory, the old lie dulce et decorum est thought to have been written between 8 october 1917 and march, 1918 1. Dulce et decorum est the first words of a latin saying taken from an ode by horace.

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The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the first world war. The full saying ends the poem: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country. Flares rockets which were sent up to burn with a brilliant glare to light up men and other targets in the area between the front lines see illustration, page 118 of out in the dark. Distant rest a camp away from the front line where exhausted soldiers might rest for a few days, or longer 4. Outstripped outpaced, the soldiers have struggled beyond the reach of these shells which are now falling behind them as they struggle away from the scene of battle 6. The filling of the lungs with fluid had the same effects as when a person drowned 8.

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Guttering owen probably meant flickering out like a candle or gurgling like water draining down a gutter, referring to the sounds in the throat of the choking man, or it might be a sound partly like stuttering and partly like gurgling 12. High zest idealistic enthusiasm, keenly believing in the rightness of the idea 15. these notes are taken from the book, out in the dark, poetry of the first world war. The ideal book for students getting to grips with the poetry of the first world war. The word is often given an italian pronunciation pronouncing the c like the c in cello, but this is wrong. This poem appears in both out in the dark and minds at war.

minds at war has much more background information, for example, more poets' letters, biographical and historical information, etc than out in the dark. to understand more about wilfred owen's war experience, his breakdown, how his poetry developed rapidly after meeting another british war poet, siegfried sassoon, it may be worth reading one of these two books. Both books provide a substantial selection of the greatest war poetry of the first world war and fascinating insights into the experience of one of the most terrible wars in the history of mankind. Both books are edited by david roberts, the editor of this website, and have been in print for more than ten years.

Click in the left column to access more information about these books and to read comments and reviews. Two readings of dulce et decorum est a new reading by david roberts bringing out the meaning of this powerful poem you can view this video on youtube by going to the youtube search box and entering dulce david roberts. A reading of the poem, dulce et decorum est, with archive film footage copyright free use of this page for students' individual personal use notes on dulce et decorum est copyright david roberts and saxon books 1998. If reproduced by teachers for non commercial use with their own students the copyright should be covered under a general license for photocopying in which case, if the institution is asked to record copyright ownership it should be attributed to saxon books/david roberts/out in the dark.

re sale or wide distribution more than a class set anyone wishing to use the poem with these notes in a publication for resale or for wide use in an educational or similar institution beyond an individual teacher's use with his or her own class es should contact the author. Copyright © 1998 saxon books david roberts choose a poem which creates an atmosphere of despair about human existence and show how the author conveys this to the reader. A poem which creates an atmosphere of despair is dulce et decorum est by wilfred owen. Explain title: it is sweet and fitting to die for ones country the poet describes a terrible scene from war then builds up to this slogan at the end, showing that it is a lie. The mens slow progress is emphasized at the start the haunting flares continues with the idea of hags and cursed, suggesting that the soldiers have been afflicted by black magic asleep suggests that this scene has a dream like quality this prepares reader for gas shells dropping softly as though they are harmless and part of this quiet scene the poet shows the panic of the soldiers at the start of the second stanza by using reported speech. Describes soldiers retreat and the gas attack they are children desperate for glory unprepared for the nightmarish horror of the trenches brings the reader to the latin quote at the end wilfred owen chooses a scene from war and brings it to life for the reader.

He uses a variety of techniques in order to create a dream like atmosphere, including sound effects and imagery. This shows us the horror that soldiers experienced during the war and helps convince the reader that propaganda for the war was based on lies. I would therefore argue that dulce et decorum est is a poem which creates an atmosphere of despair about human existence, within the context of war. Dulce et decorum est critical essay wilfred owen deals with the horror of war in his eloquent poem dulce et decorum est. The poem is written with a bitter tone to describe men before and through an attack that happened during the first world war.

The theme of the poem, as the title is an antithesis of, is it is no fine and fitting thing to die for one's country. Owen has created a different atmosphere in each verse, creating a picture that is certainly not glorious the point the author uses this poem to prove. Owen has used the first verse to create a scene of despair deaf even to the hoots.

Repeated present participle endings have been used to emphasise the feeling of haste. The use of boys in the first line quickly shows the reader that it is youths being described in this poem, another transformation from the first verse, which suggests otherwise. Again, the word choice is of importance, unusual words like ecstasy have been carefully chosen to suggest excitement. The word drowning gives connotations of someone drowning in the sea, gasping as they are dragged down to their death.

The last three lines of the verse touched me and gave vivid images with their detailed descriptions. The informality of the language yelled is used by owen to reach out to the reader. Owen has used imagery and structure to create a negative and graphic picture of war, this ties in perfectly with the theme.