1. Dulce et Decorum est
General Notes

2. Learning Intentions
To understand more general points about the poem, such as:
Theme
Writer’s message
Tone
Structure
Rhythm
Rhyme

3. Theme/Writer’s Message
The theme is the reality of war/horror of war.
The writer’s message is…
Choose a quotation from the poem which highlights the theme, and one that highlights the message.

4. Tone Stanza One: dejected, angry Stanza Two: panicked, distressed
‘men marched asleep’, ‘we cursed through sludge’
Stanza Two: panicked, distressed
‘…fitting the clumsy helmets just in time’
Stanza Three: guilt-ridden, regretful
‘In all my dreams before my helpless sight…’
Stanza Four: bitter, ironic
‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest’

5. Structure Broken up into four uneven stanzas.
Uneven stanzas may reflect the random, broken nature of war…

6. Rhyme
The poem uses an alternate rhyme scheme (ababcdcd etc). In the first stanza, this regularity may reflect the drudgery of their lives.
This breaks in the third stanza where ‘drowning’ is repeated, emphasising the horror of what happened.