Quote Bank (Junior Cert English): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
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," | Emphasises 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." |