Read the poem below, then post answers to the following questions:
1. The Latin quotation, from the Roman poet Horace, means "It is sweet and becoming to die for one's country." What is the poem's comment on this statement?
2. List the elements in the poem that seem not beautiful and therefore "unpoetic." Are there any elements of beauty in the poem?
3. How do the comparisons in lines 1, 14, 20, and 23-24 contribute to the effectiveness of the poem?
4. What does the poem gain by moving from plural pronouns and the past tense to singular pronouns and the present tense?
Wilfred Owen
Dulce Et Decorum Est
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 (5)
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; (10)
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering 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, (15)
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; (20)
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 (25)
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
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1. The poem's comment on the statement "It is sweet and becoming to die for one's country" is ironic. It is not a sweet way to die such a horrible death. The poem describes terrifying circumstances the soldiers faced in battle, and the terror they felt watching their fellow soldiers suffer.
ReplyDelete2. There was nothing beautiful in this poem except for a "green sea" in which more suffering was described. Elements in the poem that did not seem beautiful included: guttering, choking, drowning (15), gargling (21), froth-corrupted lungs (21), and obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud (22).
ReplyDelete3. Lines 1, 14, 20, and 23-24 contribute to the effectiveness of the poem by describing senses. The visuals they suggest are powerful.
ReplyDelete4. The poem makes the reader feel more like he or she is there by moving from plural pronouns and the past tense to singular pronouns and the present tense. The singular pronouns bring the pain and suffering closer to the reader.
ReplyDelete1.The poem's comment on the statement is that just a slogan which the governement used to try to cheat people to fight for the country. To lose one's life for that is not worthy.
ReplyDelete2.*Elements in that poem seem not beautiful and therefore "unpoetic" --
Line 6-8 " All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to hoots of disappointed shells that drop behind."
Line 16 " He plunges at me, guttering, chocking, drowning."
Line 23 "Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud."
*Elements of beauty
Line 25-26 "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory..."
3. Lines 1, 14, 20 and 23-24 show the fact that the poet saw some one die in front of him, which highlight the point of view of the poet that he think "dulce et decorum est" is foolish.
4.To build up a closer experience personally effect. Also it emphasize the authenticity of what the poet saw. Using singular pronouns and present tense to build up a careful decription to form an accurate picture of what had happen.
1. The glory to die for one’s country may be great, but the act of dying is painful, and terrifying. The poem tells of the horrible details of a death of a soldier during battle and the horrid looks on his fellow soldiers who had to watch him die in pain.
ReplyDelete2. Unpoetic elements are coughing like hags… sludge (2), Blood-shod… lame (6), Drunk with fatigue (7), Gas… fumbling (9), Clumsy (10), Drowning (14), Helpless (15), Guttering, choking, drowning (16), Writhing (19), Devil (20), Froth-corrupted lungs(21), and Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues (21-22). The only elements in the poem that are beautiful are high zest and green sea, but only when taken out of context.
3. Lines 1, 14, 20, and 23-24 are used to give extra descriptions of the events happening. These comparisons create a vivid picture of the suffering of that soldier.
4. The changes from past to present show the reader that the narrator actually experienced the soldier dying and brings the reader closer to the event. It allows the reader to understand the pain and suffering better by making the reader a part of the action.