Dulce et Decorm est

Themes
1. Propagagnda
  1. "The old lie"
  2. dismissive of the techniques the gov. use
  3. it tricks boys into wasting their lives
2. War
  1. it's WW1 - battlefield
  2. people are lost in two ways
    1. Physically
    2. Mentally
3. Patriotism
  1. anti-patriotic
  2. dismissive of the gov.
    1. why aren't they out fighting too?
First Stanza
1. Takes the reader into the ranks
  1. unusual/catching opening
2. Broken iambic pentameter til line 5
  1. After line 5, uses commas and semi colons etc.
    1. show the broken state of the men
3. Simile - like old beggars
  1. Ironic as they're young men
Second Stanza
1. Taken into first hand tragedy
  1. the loss of his fellow comrade (common in war)
2. "ecstasy of fumbling"
  1. sense of frenzy and urgency
  2. detailed suffering/panic
    1. to make the reader feel his own pain/frustration
3. becomes more personal
  1. features his own experiences
Stanza 4
1. confronts the reader
  1. that if they saw what he saw, they'd wish the war dead
2. uses vivid/shocking description
  1. "His hanging face like a devils sick of sin"
  2. "obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud"
Stanza 3
1. only 2 lines long
  1. brings home personal loss/effect to the reader
    1. i, my, me
2. uses the word "guttering"
  1. describes the tears streaming down the mans face
    1. a sign of fear/sadness towards death
    2. a symptom from being infected by the gas
Language
1. opening lines contain of: bent, beggars, sacks, hags, cursed, haunting, trudge
  1. these are all terms used to describe poverty/deprivation
    1. not a glorious soldier -like the gov. described
2. alliteration - lines 5, 11 & 19
  1. "Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots"
3. use of similies
  1. "like a devils face, sick of sin"
Imagery
1. men appear old - but that's just an illusion
2. stanza 4 is full of imagery
  1. "and watch the white eyes writhing in his face"
Background
1. Poet - Wilfred Owen
2. written during WW1
  1. published 1920
3. it is sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland

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Dulce et Decorm est

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	Created by Charlotte Gee over 6 years ago