by Wilfred Owen

1. Dulce et Decorum Est
-Look for information about Wilfred Owen
-Characteristics of war poetry
-Explain each stanza with own words
-Which images predominate? Quote and explain
-What does the title mean?
1. He was an English soldier who fought in the First World War, where he wrote several
poema. He was killed in France, one week before the armistice was ed. signed. He
was homosexual, he met Sansson in a hospital. He is considered as the most
important poet of WW1. He is considered a late war poet. In his poems he optimizes
the frantic, painful, dirty nature of trench warfare.
2.
a. Dreams shattered
b. Descriptive
c. Criticism of government and the Church
d. Main themes:
i. Abstract rhetoric of honor
1. Early war poets focus on the causes of the war and the
emphasize the abstract notion of honor
2. Late war poets are visibly anti-war. Focus on the details of
their war experience and the hard reality of war.
ii. Injury
iii. Gender relations
iv. Poetic formalism

2. 3.
4. The image the predominates in the poem is visual. Owen uses visual images in order
to convey the message of how terrible to trenches and the war was. “I saw him
drowning”, “watch the white eyes writhing in his face”.
5. It is sweet and proper to die for the fatherland, dying and fighting for their own
country.
Analysing the poem

3. First Stanza:
1. What is the main emotion expressed in the first stanza (verse)? shock. This could be
understood in two different ways: I. Reader’s perspective: it is shocking for the reader
because it goes against with what the government sold to people. It plays with the
expectation versus reality of the war. Soldiers were perceived as strong men who
were always focused on winning the war. Men who weren’t tired and nothing could
stop them. But, with Owen’s description it shows the opposite. The soldiers are really
exhausted and are in terrible conditions.
II.Soldier’s perspective: they had never believed war it would be as it was. They were shock
because of the war context and its consequences and effects. The ground was much more
difficult to cross than expected, they were weak since they lost weight because of
malnutrition. They felt exhausted and depressed, shocked with the situation, they were even
unaware they were in attack.
2. Write an example of a simile used in the first stanza: “coughing like hags”
3. Why were the shells ‘disappointed’?
We could analyze this in two ways, literally and metaphorically. The literal meaning has to do
with the aim of the shells rather than the metaphorical meaning. The shells could have been
‘dis-appointed’, meaning that they didn’t hit the target that was desire by the enemy. The
metaphorical way to look at that word is that Owen is personifying the shells. They feel
‘disappointed’ because they weren’t able to achieve their goal, which was to kill the soldiers.
Second Stanza:
1. How does the emotion change at the beginning of the second stanza?
The emotion is now much more dramatic, with a dramatic tone. There is a sense of panic
and waring. It reflects the voice’s madness at that time “An ecstasy of fumbling”
2. What were the soldiers ‘fumbling’ for and why?
The soldiers were fumbling due to the gas that was released from the bombs thrown
by the enemies. The are fumbling because the gas is toxic causing the soldiers to
become dizzy and unable to walk or think properly since it is killing them.
3. Owen uses a metaphor to describe what the gas looked like. Write it here:
“Dim through the misty panes and thick green light”
Third Stanza:
1. Why do you think the third stanza is only two lines long? Think about the dramatic
effect and the emotion: The third stanza has only two lines because the narrator is
changing the time that it is speaking off. In the first two stanzas, the narrator is
speaking of his life during the war. But now, the narrator is speaking in the present.
He mentions the trauma that was caused thanks to the war.
Fourth Stanza:
1. What is the main emotion expressed in the fourth stanza?
Since the poet now changes the perspective, he addresses the reader directly. The
tone is bitter and angry. The main emotion that is expressed in this stanza is anger
and fury.

4. 2. Name three parts of the body that are affected by this sort of gas:
The tongue, eyes and lungs
3. Explain the final lines.
The last lines are written in latin and they mean “It is sweet and proper to die for the
fatherland”. Owen ends his poem with this phrase in order to criticize the
government. He wants to convey the trauma that he experienced and that no one
should go through that, even if it's for someone’s country. Owen is clearly anti-war
and hates that he, in a way, was pressured to go through this horrible experience just
because the government said that this was the only way you can show you
nationalism and your love for your country.
Extension Question:
Write your opinion of this poem. Think about what the emotion expressed, use of powerful
words, use of similes and metaphors, layout, and what the poet is trying to say. Try to use
full sentences and give reasons to support your ideas.
In our opinion, this poem was very interesting. One of the main reasons was that we studied
the First World War, allowing us to, in a way, connect with the narrator and with the soldiers.
When we refer to the connection with the soldiers, is not created because we went through a
war, but, because we know the background of the war and we are able to understand the
message that Owen was trying to transmit to its readers. In other ways, we liked the poem
because we were able to catch and understand a soldier’s point of view. We were able to
notices his feelings and emotions towards war and his personal opinion about it.
Furthermore, we believe that it is simple to understand the basic message. Of course that
once you read it, we must do a deeper analysis, but the first time we read it, we were able to
understand it.
The writer uses several literary devices to express his message: visual images, metaphors,
similes and powerful words. All along the poem, the reader can notices those literary
devices.
For example, the first line already introduce the first visual image and a simile, “Bent double,
like old beggars and undersak”. Those words express a dramatic opening through the visual
image, showing pain. The phrase also suggests that the soldiers are weak and young,
inexperienced.
The writer also implement the word “trudge”. He chose that word to emphyse how exhausted
and depressed men were. That means that the writer uses powerful words to emphyse what
he wanted to transmit.
Wilfred Owen also used metaphors. For example in the second stanza, it is said “As under a
green sea, I saw him drowning”. That extended metaphor describes the man dying, unable
to breath. He had flashbacks of soldiers dying in war and how that impact lasted forever, it
never disappear.
By the poem, the writer is able to convey soldiers situation in war and transmit the inevitable
fact that war is painful and harsh, and that it generates effects that will last for eternity.