Short Assignment: Dulce et Decorum Est

Max Liebl

4/7/17

Wilfred Owen makes many changes to his manuscript in order to better capture the audience and all them to better see the emotion and desperation of the men in a gas attack. One of the first changes is to add in “Quick, boys!” following the signaling of the gas attack. Owen initially writes, “Gas! Gas! An ecstasy of fumbling,” which describes the somewhat chaotic and clumsy movement to don the protective gas masks in a hurry. However, his addition allows for the audience to better picture the speed required for the men to don the masks. It shows how dire the situation is and that speed is crucial and how that plays into the next stanza with the description of the young man who couldn’t get his on in time, thus suffering from the effects of the deadly gas.

Owen also takes out a major portion of his poem where he describes the sound of incoming gas shells. He describes how the men had loosened their masks in case it was gas and the quiet listening of their surroundings waiting for the inevitable. Eliciting this portion allows for the reader to better understand the desperation of a surprise gas attack, since this part paints the picture of men awaiting an oncoming attack. Owen seems to want to create a sense of urgency and surprise and show how these attacks took the lives of young men like the one described in the poem at random whether they had prepared or not.