Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est": A World War I Poem About the Horrors of Gas Warfare
By
bikeshaving
All dough, no crust. Filling but forgettable.
Summary
This is Wilfred Owen's famous World War I poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," which vividly depicts the horrors of trench warfare and a gas attack. The poem describes exhausted soldiers trudging through mud, many injured and barely conscious, when suddenly a gas attack occurs. One soldier fails to get his gas mask on in time and suffers a horrific death, which the narrator witnesses. The poem powerfully challenges the patriotic notion that it is "sweet and fitting to die for one's country."
Key quotes
· 4 pulledBent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge
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
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind
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