‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen

Poetry to prose

Imagine you are one of the soldiers that Wilfred Owen writes about in ‘Dulce et
Decorum Est’. Tell your story about the gas attack, using your senses to guide the
writing. Include words from the word bank below, some of which are taken directly
from the poem.

Here’s an example to help you:

This morning we trudged our way along the muddy trench. We were
exhausted. I could hear Jones yelling, ‘Gas!’ and we all grappled for our
masks. We climbed over the top and advanced slowly into no man’s land.
Through the mist I saw …

Sounds Tastes
coughing, sniffling rum
gunfire whisky
shots tea
rifles reloading bully beef (tinned corned beef)
shouts, screams, whistles blowing blood
blood gargling
yelling

Touch/ feeling Sights

cold metal of rifle or pistol a friend being blown up or shot down
heavy weight of mud-soaked boots mist
tight gas mask green/yellowish gas
muddy ground in summer or frosty hard flares/fire
ground in winter dead bodies/dead horses
sludge dying soldiers
rough material of uniform medics
lost weapons and boots
Smells
cordite in the air (a chemical used in
explosives)
latrines (open toilets)
rotting flesh of the unburied soldiers
cigarette smoke
smell of food cooking on primus stove

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