Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious E

Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious thing to die for your country. It is a poem written by an officer Connotations Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious thing to die for your country. It is a poem written by an officer in the army in the world war one. The poem contains four stanza’s which all vary in their lengths. The first stanza is a description of a group of young soldiers retreating from the frontline. The lines are long which show how slow they are walking. The stanza focuses on the physical and psychological aspects of what it must be like to be in a war. The words that are used emphasise on this, haunting flares and also a sinister feeling. On the first line a simile is used as the poet refers to the young men to be ‘like’ old men. He also emasculates the men on the second line by calling them ‘hags’ which is a noun that compares them to old aged women who are in a very bad state. On the third line the adjective ‘haunting’ is used which adds a supernatural feeling to the poem. Following there is the word ‘flares’ which is ambiguous is it could symbolise an attack or it could mean flares as in the flames of fire. The word ‘backs’ is used also on that line as the soldiers maybe trying to get away from the bad that was happening behind them or maybe it was a war that was spreading as quick as a fire that is why the word ‘flares’ is used. The men marched asleep on the fifth line as they were exhausted and this exhaustion seemed to be trudging around with them while they’re in battle. Also on the same line, it says ‘many had lost their boots’, I think boots are a symbol of a man, this also could mean the men were emasculated an... ...eaks directly to the reader, showing they are both the same and they are both to blame. ‘Children’ is used on the next line as it shows they are still young, innocent, vulnerable and need protecting. On line 27 the word ‘Lie’ is used, the uppercase letter reinforces that the lie is not just a lie it is a large one. The words that come next in Italics is the actual title of the poem ‘Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori’, these words are written in Italics to they stand out. They also conclude the irony of the poem, as irony has built up to this point during the poem by using horrific images and language. The last stanza is one which is contemplative and reflective. The poem has a universal message as it can be related to situations all over the world. The situations could be in the past, present or the future however the moral will always stay the same.