Dulce Et Decorum Est (POEM #1)

1. Title: Dulce Et Decorum Est

1. Without looking up the meaning of the phrase, one can distinguish the word “dulce,” as it is common adjective when describing candy, meaning sweet. “Decorum,” also relatively easy to define due primarily to background knowledge and prior vocabulary experience, means etiquette. So, the title can be crudely translated as something sweet and etiquette. This poem values that title, as it is a poem about fighting for your country. It is sweet, to honor yourself through the courageous actions of fighting for your home, for your people, and for your country. It is otherwise your duty.

2. Paraphrase:

1. Soldiers fight in a war for the sake of their country. The fatigue etched deep within them, the horrors of bloodshed and the dwindling light of a candle. But it is sweet and satisfying to honor one’s self to death in exchange for the safety of one’s country.

3. Connotation:

1. “like old beggars under sacks” - fatigue, dwindling morale
2. “all went lame; all blind” - loss of integrity, loss of form (sunken bodies, trudging)
3. “hoots” - gunshot noises
4. “saw him drowning” - dying soldier, choking on blood

4. Attitude
1. The tone is somber, the way the poem vividly describes war speaks in that account. But there is an inquisitive attitude that underlies the somber tone. It peaks in the way the poem talks about war, the gruesome and grotesque truth about war. It belittles the way war is often time interpreted as something sort-of romantic. It’s similar to how living in a small town gets over romanticized. People don’t see that living in a small town isn’t as romantic as it seems (lack of diversity, lack of acceptance). War isn’t romantic, it’s not “sweet” and “right,” it’s blood and gore and death.

5. Shift

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est

Pro patria mori

1. There is a shift the moment the poem starts talking about the foolishness of society’s romanticized views on war. The poet calls it “desperate glory,” which continuously reinforces the notion that war is neither heroic nor honorable. The saying “dulce et decorum est” is a lie told to young men.

6. Title Revisited
1. After reading (and re-reading) and analyzing the poem, it is easy to note the mistake I made. The title isn’t to encourage the romanticism of war, but contrary to that. It’s ironic. Simple as that. It pokes fun on the way war has been socially accepted as a way to glorify one’s self, has been romanticized to the point of “roses-and-hearts.”

7. Theme

1. War is full of grit; it is sunken eyes and hunched backs, dirt and blood.