Ducle by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest 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
Of outstripped five-nines that dropped behind

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes 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, 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
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
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

Background:

●        There were many developments in technology and modern warfare. This poem was written well into the war, in about 1917.

●        The poem was drafted at Craiglockhart in the first half of October 1917 and later revised. It was then published in 1920.

●        This poem was addressed to Jessie Pope, a pro war poet who in Owen’s perspective knew nothing about the war.

●        One million grenades were coming were coming out of munitions factories every week.

●        British soldiers were outnumbered, badly equipped and unprepared.

●        Trench warfare created deadlock and little ground was made anywhere.

●        The conditions of war were very horrible.

●        Note that the rhyme scheme starts to wrap around the end of the poem. It is to show how scarred he is by the issue that he can longer maintain the structure of the poem. This is similar when trying to recall a sad story. You tend to break down towards the end emotionally.

●        Note that there is a small break between the time he was dying and the time he was thrown into the wagon. Perhaps this was a small interval where he was reflective for both the readers and for himself.

1)      Bent double = Frail looking. Contrast to the propaganda that you see in posters.
Caesura used for the dramatic opening; brings you right to the battlefield.
Like = Simile
Old beggars under sacks = Reference to how heavy their bags are. Also a reference to how they look like after a battle.

a.       Similar to how they feel they feel tired and weary literally, it also shows how hard it is to bear the burden of killing and the death of others on your back. This is the emotional sacks you have to carry.

b.      Also a reference of how they look as weak as beggars; perhaps the food given was not sufficient and the sleep time not enough. This is also a contrast to the propaganda posters.

2)      Knock-kneed = The soldiers are so tired that you are unable to hold your own weight.

a.       Alliteration of the “K” sound. This is a very primitive, rough sound. This shows that the battlefield is rough, and on the battlefield there is nobody there but animals. It also is the literal sound of “knee knocking”. That bone on bone sound is enough to give me enough realism of war (sends shivers up my spine if you ask me).

b.      There is also a staccato sound for this phrase, indicating that although the battle looks to have ended, there is still a sense of tenseness in the air. This could be a foreshadowing for what is to come next

The weight of the bags and the fatigue is so potent that your knees collapse and you are thus “knock-kneed”.
Coughing like hags = This is a simile, but it is also used as a form of imagery. When you think of hags, you often think of people who are rejected by society, are often old weak and dirty. This is also a contrast to the propaganda posters; this is not how soldiers should be treated. Also, hags are also found on the bad side of the city. Similarly, there is no place worst on Earth at that point in time than the battlefield.
Sludge = Imagery for how wet and dirty the war was. It also shows how hard it is to move at that point in time. It could be that you are so tired that you feel like taking the next step is like walking through sludge. On a metaphorical note it could also mean that you are trudging through the sludge of death and decay of your friends who died in war.

3)      Haunting Flares= Personification. Your friends have died on the battlefield and at that time the flares were used to provide light. This shines light over your dead comrades, but the image is haunting in itself, and the smoke that the flares leave behind do not help. With the smoke, it really looks like ghosts are flying around in the night sky.
Similarly, it also shows that soldiers live haunted by fear and peril of death, or not dying but living in hell instead.
Turned our backs = This can be a reference to guilt. It could be perhaps that they are retreating and leaving some of their friends or even family members to die in the background. This means that these people suffering from survivor’s guilt will be haunted by the dead soldiers for the rest of their lives. 

4)      Distant rest = Not only is it hard to get back to quarters, but it is also very far. 

5)      Men marched = “M” sound alliteration. Very rhythmic, like the ringing in your head after a loud noise. After the loud shells of war. Additionally it does also give a reference to the military.
Many had lost their boots = In the war, many people did not have enough equipment to fight in the war. Many had no boots to wear and had to peel it off the dead people. So not only do they have to make a long passage with their heavy bags, they don’t have boots to walk in. This is also a contrast to the propaganda posters that we see when we see a soldier fully dressed in the war. The fact that people did not wear boots not only means that they had to walk on soil or mud, but they perhaps had to walk over and on the dead as well.

6)      Blood-shod = A word made up from Wilfred Owen. Their feet are saturated with blood as they walk over the bodies of the dead. Perhaps there is no word to describe this. One could argue that the word “shod” is an onomatopoeia as well, as there is a “shod” sound when walking over mud or blood.
All went lame = Metaphor. They are not lame but they are just so tired or too traumatised that they do not wish to talk about the war. It could also mean that the loud explosions that they have heard during the battle has made them unable to speak.
All blind = it was night time, and although the flares were up it was pretty dark. Metaphorically, it could also mean that they were walking into a future they did not know about. The darkness that lay ahead was nothing more than death. It was only a matter of time before they got lost in it.

7)      Drunk with fatigue = They were overwhelmed with fatigue that their movements would be comparable with a drunk person. It also shows the contrast between the city and the battlefield, when in the battlefield you get drunk on beer and have fun while on the battlefield all you get drunk on is fatigue.
Hoots = This refers to the hoots of gun shells or the ones that artillery missiles make when fired.

8)      Five-nines = These are artillery shells that make the hooting sound.
Outstripped = fast moving. Move faster than and overtake. These artillery shells are moving very fast towards them, but they do not care anymore. They are just tired of the war and tired of living. 
Behind = The fact that the bombs were behind them may signify that they are retreating at the expense of their comrades, who sacrificed their lives so that the others can retreat. This may only go to amplify the sense of survivors’ guilt that these soldiers have: that the soldiers retreating should live while the others have to die for their sake. So not only are they fatigued from the war, but they are also reluctant, which could make them all the more slower.

9)       

10)   Boys = The military men were so close together that they still thought of each other as children. This only strengthens the sense of survivor’s guilt that these retreating soldier’s feel.
Exclamation mark representative of how urgent the situation was. Repetition and capitalisation of the second word “GAS” also emphasizes this fact.
Ecstasy of fumbling = Estacy: “A trance like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness.” For them, it was unreal for the battle to continue after fighting for so long. The fatigue was also clouding their alertness and better judgement.

11)   Clumsy helmets = A contrast to propaganda posters; a lot of the equipment was not as easy to use as the posters made it out to be, nor were they state of the art. In fact, they were very primitive. The gas mask was very primitive which made it hard for soldiers to put it on.

12)    Someone = impersonal. It was a shame that he didn’t get to know the person that is dying right in front of him. In another life they could have been friends.
Alternatively, the fact that it was impersonal could signify the fact that it could have been anyone: anyone who was a soldier could have been easily put into that situation.

13)   Flound’ring = Note the metaphor. Like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe under the influence of the suffocating gas which quickly filled the air, the soldier’s found it hard to breathe.
Man in fire = Imagery. A lot of the gas used could dissolve or melt skin, giving the image of the man being burnt alive even without the fire being there. Lime is a reference to the colour of the uniform that the soldier wore. Although he breathed in the gas by accident, it is his own country that sent him to his death. Literally though, lime or quicklime is a dry chemical compound that can burn through flesh like fire.

14)   Dim = This is a contrast to the lines stating that he was blind just now. The poet is trying desperately to see through the darkness. The flares are doing their work but is clouding their vision in a thick green mist and casting a thick green light. This shows a sense of the unknown; he has no idea what is going on around him and he feels alone. This also gets rid of all the people around him and puts the attention between the other person and him, making it more personal.

15)    Green sea = metaphor. For him he feels like he is at the bottom of the ocean, so dark and dim that he could not see whatever is right in front of him. It also gives an image of being helpless as you are in the element of someone else, you are not in control of whatever is around you. Similar to the pressure of war, you feel the pressure of the water (if they had one) on you at the seabed. It gives an indication that even when he trying to process whatever is going on, he still has to carry the large sack that he was complaining about not too long ago.  

16)    

17)   The same scene replays itself over and over in his head, so it is something that is very traumatising to him. He plays this from his flashbacks and the fact that it is so vivid means that he is plagued by the guilt of not being able to help the man through his suffering despite him being right in front of him begging to help in some way.

18)   Plunges = Someone about to die, begging him for help. It is as if he is the one causing the pain. On the other hand, he is wearing the soldier’s uniform, as if the dead man is blaming the government and the whole concept of a military for doing this to him. However Owen takes it very personally, for it is him that could have done something, if anything to help the man.
Guttering = This is a word made up by Owen. It could be an onomatopoeia, but it sounds like water going down the drain, as if all the evil gas pollutants in the air are going straight into his mouth and that it is not him breathing it in.
Choking, drowning = This is another reference to the green sea just now. He is drowning in it.

19)    

20)   Smothering dreams = Reference to the choking that he described. Guilt affects him so much that he sees himself getting suffocated because of the gas in his dreams.
The fact that he uses dreams means that the same thing happens over and over again.
However the end bit always remains the same: he is pacing behind the wagon where they threw the dead body in and he sees the face of the man in every single dream. It is for this reason that perhaps he wakes up panting for air, which often show a sign of emotional instability.

21)    21 and 22 are under the same annotation.

22)   His face is no longer human. Rather it looks like a beast, a person that has lost his sanity.  The scary thing is is that the person is still alive, and we act as if he is already dead. His mind would have been long gone from the pain.

23)   Literally, because of the gas itself being able to burn or melt skin, his face would be hanging.
A devil sick of sin = This sounds contradictory. It may be also a hyperbole on the war itself. Even the devil is sick of all the sin that goes on in the war, all the injustice.
Alliteration of “Sick of Sin” is also used. The “S” sound in this case sounds very sinister, as if a snake waiting to strike its next victim.

24)   A lot of imagery used here.
Gargling = onomatopoeia used here. It is also used to show that the person’s mouth is full of blood. To the point that he is unable to breathe and is gargling in it. It also shows an indication that the person’s lungs is saturated with blood and he is literally drowning in his own blood, another reference to the sea of green.
Froth is caused by agitation and salivating. In this case, the person has lost all control of his mouth and thus begins salivating.
Corrupted = Another reference to the devil. The devil has corrupted his lungs. In this case, he is referring to how the gas has went into his lungs and destroyed him from the inside out.  It slowly goes around the inner walls of the lung, corroding and corrupting everything that passes it.

25)   Obscene as cancer = Cancer is formed from mutated cells that will divide on their own accord. Similarly, the whole idea of war spreads within the country, giving many people the idea that war is something you should join. Also, in the case of the man, his own body is killing him from a reaction with an acid. The fact that one would resort to biological weapons in this case, or the propaganda posters in cities is what Owen cites as obscene.
Cud is something that is spat out from the stomach to be chewed a second time.             Of course, because all the taste has been chewed away, it’s bitter. So it really is “as  bitter as the cud”. However, the cud in this case is whatever the man has spewed out because of the gas and the blood that continues to flow out of his mouth. He is using imagery in this case to create a sense of disgust within you, or to give you a bit of insight on what he sees.

26)   Incurable sores = The gas would create sores on your skin, possible pores of pus. Once again, this is a piece of imagery used by Owen. However much he uses this for image purposes, it is quite true. The gas would create incurable sores, once again accentuating how helpless he feels that he can do nothing to numb the pain, even though the man is about to die.
Innocent tongues = These people were once part of a city where they had things to do and a purpose in life; things with very innocent intentions. The fact that he is bringing innocent and guilt into the picture is because he is trying to convey the idea that it is the government that is forcing the innocent to commit sins, and once someone commits a sin, it cannot be forgotten. A incurable sore cannot be removed, and it could be possible that Owen was referring to the sins that the government has made them do as a sore by itself.

27)   My friend = Although he does not know who we are, he makes use of a personal pronoun so as to create emotive language so as to make it sound like he is an advisor or good friend. The comma is used as a pause so that you can take in the fact that he is addressing you as a friend. 
Zest = enjoyment
Note that he is also using an imperative. “You would not”. If not a convincing poem, he is trying to command you for the sake of others to not do what other people has failed to do.

28)   Children = By using the word children, he is putting the reader on a higher pedestal. He is empowering the reader by giving them the image that the reader knows more than any of those who did not read the poem. It is in this way that you are more confidently able to portray the idea On the other hand he may be talking to people immature enough to understand what the situation is all about and just listen to the propaganda posters and peer pressure to join the army. 
Ardent = having an intense passion
Desperate glory = In this case, he objectifies glory as something that everyone wants to get. In fact, some want it so bad that they are desperate for it. It is in this case that Owen tries to make the whole idea very pathetic as one is chasing for something that you can live without to the point that you would put your life on the line.

29)   The old lie = The lie is used over and over again over the ages. The lines “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” has been used over and over again for many wars. Owen is trying to say that the phase has been used over and over again. How could  you and human beings in general fall for the same trick over and over again?

30)   The last line is basically used to dramatise the whole phrase. He has put it as the last line to create a pause between the first half of the phrase and the second half of the phrase. He is giving a rather sinister image by mentioning the last part. He is saying that it is perhaps honourable to die for certain reasons (perhaps to save the life of someone else), but fighting due to political instability of the government (ie, your country) is a very ridiculous notion and the fact that the government tells this lie over and over again gives the indication that they are the true doers of evil.

Others:

●     Note that the rhyme scheme starts to warp around the end of the poem. Perhaps it shows how scarred his is by the issue that he can no longer maintain the structure of the poem. This is similar when trying to recall a sad story. You tend to break down towards the end.

●     Note that there is a small break between the time he was dying and the time he was thrown into the wagon. Perhaps this was a small interval where he was reflective both for the readers and for himself.