Q 01/05

Which Daily Mail writer of recruiting verse was the first dedicatee of 'Dulce et Decorum Est'?

A) Rudyard Kipling

B) Jessie Pope

C) Henry Newbolt

D) Laurence Binyon

Answer · why

B) Jessie Pope

Jessie Pope was named in the first draft's dedication, which Owen softened to 'a certain Poetess' and then dropped altogether.

Q 02/05

What condition was Wilfred Owen in hospital for when he drafted 'Dulce et Decorum Est'?

A) Gas poisoning

B) Trench fever

C) A bullet wound

D) Shell shock

Answer · why

D) Shell shock

Shell shock, then diagnosed as neurasthenia, came after a trench mortar blast left Owen unconscious for several days beside the remains of a fellow of...

Q 03/05

The poet of 'Dulce et Decorum Est' was killed in action exactly one week before which event?

A) The Armistice

B) The Battle of the Somme

C) The Christmas Truce

D) The Treaty of Versailles

Answer · why

A) The Armistice

The Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, and the telegram announcing Owen's death reached his family that same day as church bells rang to celebr...

Q 04/05

In the opening line of 'Dulce et Decorum Est', the bent-double soldiers are compared to what?

A) Tired mules in harness

B) Convicts dragging chains

C) Old beggars under sacks

D) Blind men at prayer

Answer · why

C) Old beggars under sacks

Old beggars under sacks is the poem's first image, and the next line has the same young soldiers knock-kneed and cursing through sludge.

Q 05/05

In 'Dulce et Decorum Est', through what colour of light is the gassed soldier seen floundering?

A) Green

B) Yellow

C) Grey

D) Orange

Answer · why

A) Green

Green is used twice in two lines, and the speaker sees the scene only dimly, through misty panes.