1. "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks..." literally meant that the soldiers were carrying bags over their shoulders so heavy that their backs were bent, similar to old beggars carrying sacks over their shoulders. The phrase actually implies that the soldiers suffered a lot during the war and were exhausted and strained physically, emphasising on the extent which the war has affected the young soldiers, reducing them to such a terrible state. The first stanza shows that the soldiers were exhausted and weak, which can be seen from "knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge", which expresses their anguish. The soldiers were also injured and had no desire to fight on. This can be seen from the phrases "But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind", which means that the soldiers had already sustained injuries due to the toil in war, and they were not in a good condition to continue combating.
2. The phrase "GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!" is used to instil a sense of urgency in the readers because capital letters were used for the first word, creating a tense atmosphere. The simile "And floundering like a man in fire or lime-" increases tension as well because lime is corrosive while fire is extremely dangerous, signifying the extent of danger that the man was in. After that, the words "guttering, choking and drowning" were used in succession to intensify the atmosphere. "If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs" in the last stanza depicts the horrifying scene in war, which further increases tension in the poem.
3. At the end of the poem, the poet said "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori", which means that it is not at all sweet and right to di for one's country, neither is it a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for one's country. The poet wanted to emphasise on the fact that in contrast to widespread belief, in truth, war is not worth it, because it only brings forth sorrow, not joy, as seen by the diction used in his poem. I agree with his point of view, because war is cruel and will only bring about sorrow, sufferings and death. It is not worth it to be a martyr, because dying for one's country is not sweet, but cruel.
Flying the flag in Bosnia
1. The tone of this poem is solemn and grave. The poet describes the woman as "an old woman whose hair is parted straight down the middle", showing how grieved the woman was over her son's death and this evokes sympathy from the readers. The fact that the woman "slumped by the cross that bears her son's name, crudely lettered" meant that she was extremely devastated, and this was intensified by the fact that even the gravedigger pitied the woman and left her with "a full cup of coffee".
2. The poet used simile in the poem, as seen in "like a flag", and juxtaposition when describing the items by the grave. The fact that the poem is made up of many short lines shows that it is not too elaborate, thus bringing out the solemn atmosphere in the poem effectively.The poet hoped to describe the misery of an old woman and the tragic fate of her son who died in the war. He also wants to convey the message that war only brings sufferings because Bosnia is a war-torn country and its citizens suffered, as seen by the phrase "in the country which already has too many", meaning that many died during the war, therefore war should not be waged at all costs.
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