The Ugly Truth... "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen
The Poem below is a very heartbreaking story of what life was like during the first World War. Beauty doesn't have to come from cheerful, sunny places - beauty can come from truth. The rockets, the poisonous gas, the loss of friends, the life of war. How much more truth do you need? Please read the poem below and experience the truth for yourself.
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(2) we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest(3) began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. 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,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud(12)
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(13)
To children ardent(14) for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.(15)
Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 - March, 1918
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.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. 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,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud(12)
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(13)
To children ardent(14) for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.(15)
Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 - March, 1918
Poem Citation: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html
Image Citation: 611 × 404 - content.time.com520 × 250 - spiegel.de
Image Citation: 611 × 404 - content.time.com520 × 250 - spiegel.de
Writer's Notebook Response
War. Such a small word, but maybe one of the most powerful and controversial words used. For those who fight or who have fought, there is nothing so terrible. For those who haven't seen a war, there is no right to judge.
The opening lines in the poem create great visual imagery. Readers can see the hunched over, exhausted men, walking together dazed and filthy. The men walking to camp are so worn out they don't even hear the firing bullets. Lines 14-16 have great imagery, but it provides an image not everyone wants to see. The poor, helpless soldier has to drown in his own blood because of the poisonous gas that reached his lungs. Could you imagine running around, choking on your own blood, knowing you were going to die while your fellow soldiers could only watch? I can't. The worst part, but also the most truthful is the understatement in line 18 when the soldiers "flung" the dying man in the wagon, almost like he wasn't anything to them.To fling a friends body doesn't seem very humane. At that point you can tell the soldiers are starting to lose their human emotions.
A great line in the poem is "an ecstasy of fumbling" (9). The word ecstasy seems strange in a poem talking about war, but it added - once again - great imagery and makes the poem more dramatic. Owen used a lot of good diction throughout the poem, but one of the best choices is "innocent tongues" (24). So many people died during WWI. Adding the word innocent helps readers understand how brutal war can be. There weren't just 30-40 year old men fighting, there were young teenage boys; there were "innocent" teenage boys. To kill innocence may be one of the worst things a person can do.
The best lines in the poem are the conclusive lines: "for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori" (26-28). When translated, it means, "it is sweet and seemly to die for one's country". Veterans have seen hatred and death and corruption. After all the time they spent fighting and watching their friends die right in front of them, they want to feel pride and appreciation. Even if it is a lie, it is a beautiful lie.
The opening lines in the poem create great visual imagery. Readers can see the hunched over, exhausted men, walking together dazed and filthy. The men walking to camp are so worn out they don't even hear the firing bullets. Lines 14-16 have great imagery, but it provides an image not everyone wants to see. The poor, helpless soldier has to drown in his own blood because of the poisonous gas that reached his lungs. Could you imagine running around, choking on your own blood, knowing you were going to die while your fellow soldiers could only watch? I can't. The worst part, but also the most truthful is the understatement in line 18 when the soldiers "flung" the dying man in the wagon, almost like he wasn't anything to them.To fling a friends body doesn't seem very humane. At that point you can tell the soldiers are starting to lose their human emotions.
A great line in the poem is "an ecstasy of fumbling" (9). The word ecstasy seems strange in a poem talking about war, but it added - once again - great imagery and makes the poem more dramatic. Owen used a lot of good diction throughout the poem, but one of the best choices is "innocent tongues" (24). So many people died during WWI. Adding the word innocent helps readers understand how brutal war can be. There weren't just 30-40 year old men fighting, there were young teenage boys; there were "innocent" teenage boys. To kill innocence may be one of the worst things a person can do.
The best lines in the poem are the conclusive lines: "for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori" (26-28). When translated, it means, "it is sweet and seemly to die for one's country". Veterans have seen hatred and death and corruption. After all the time they spent fighting and watching their friends die right in front of them, they want to feel pride and appreciation. Even if it is a lie, it is a beautiful lie.