Quote Bank

Quote	Explanation
"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks"	Describes the soldiers' extreme exhaustion and the toll that war has taken on them. The simile compares them to old beggars, highlighting their suffering.
"Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge"	Illustrates the soldiers' physical and mental weakness as they struggle through the battlefield, evoking sympathy from the reader.
"Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots / But limped on, blood-shod."	Depicts the soldiers as barely conscious, yet still forced to continue marching despite their injuries.
"Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling"	Captures the sudden panic of a gas attack and the soldiers' frantic efforts to put on their gas masks.

| "Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, / As under a green sea, I saw him drowning." | Describes the horror of watching a soldier die from the gas, using a powerful simile to compare the scene to drowning under a sea of poison gas. | | "In all my dreams before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." | Highlights the haunting impact of the war on the poet, as he is tormented by the memory of the dying soldier in his dreams. |

| "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin" | Conveys the grotesque and painful expression of the dying soldier, showing the severe effects of the gas. | | "Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud / Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues," | Emphasizes the gruesome and repulsive nature of war injuries, comparing them to incurable diseases and reinforcing the anti-war message. |

| "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori." | The final lines reveal the poet's condemnation of the idea that it is sweet and honourable to die for one's country, calling it "the old Lie." |