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Dulce Et Decorum Est


Reading these lines makes you feel tired and weary, sympathetic to their plight.
             The third and fourth lines continue the tone and theme of the first two. "Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, and toward our distant rest began to trudge". The phrase "haunting flares" is a reference to the soldiers" impression of the flare artillery shells. In World War I, flares were typically shot off preparatory to an artillery barrage to aid the spotters in correcting firing aim. The flares must have been an evil omen to the battle weary soldiers unfortunate enough to experience a barrage. "Toward our distant rest" is a reference to a march to the rear for rest and recuperation. An alternate interpretation could be that the distant rest was some reference to an inevitable death. I am not certain if the author did not intend for the language to have dual meanings. Regardless of intent, the reader is compelled to consider the possible dual meaning of the words.
             The remainder of the first stanza continues the tone of exhaustion and despair. "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 gas shells dropping softly behind." It is difficult for the average reader to comprehend the exhaustion experienced by the soldiers to cause them to march asleep. I don't believe the author was speaking figuratively here, and that merely deepens the impact of the words. Images of blood shod feet marching endlessly seems a dehumanizing image, almost comparing them to horses or cattle. Is this the intent of the author? The tone of the first stanza, indeed the entire work, seems an intentional attempt to disabuse the reader of any positive visualization in regards to the plight of the soldiers. A symbolic comparison to animals, being driven to death, is certainly in keeping with the author's attempts to remove the glory from their situation.


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