Dulce Et Decorum Est - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary terms and key imagery from the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est.

Dulce Et Decorum Est

A poem detailing the harsh reality of World War I soldiers marching through sludge, enduring gas attacks, and suffering from trauma.

Blood-shod

Having feet covered or shod with blood, describing soldiers who lost their boots and continued limping.

Five-Nines

Tired, outstripped artillery shells dropping behind the marching, exhausted soldiers.

Ecstasy of fumbling

A frantic, hurried struggle to fit clumsy gas helmets quickly upon hearing the warning 'Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!'.

Flound'ring

Struggling or stumbling helplessly, as described of a soldier caught in poison gas like a man in fire or lime.

Lime

Quicklime, a burning chemical compound compared to the corrosive effects of poison gas on a dying soldier.

Guttering

Flickering, choking, or sputtering violently, used to describe the suffocating soldier in the speaker's helpless dreams.

Froth-corrupted lungs

Lungs ruined by poison gas, causing blood to gargle forth at every jolt of the wagon carrying the dying soldier.

Cud

Regurgitated food, described in the poem as 'bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues'.