WAEC - Literature In English (2007 - No. 21)
UNSEEN POETRY AND PROSE
Read the poem and answer the question
Bent-double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we curse through sludge
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge,
Men marched asleep, many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shed. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; even deaf to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softy behind.
The extract conveys a mood of
Read the poem and answer the question
Bent-double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we curse through sludge
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge,
Men marched asleep, many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shed. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; even deaf to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softy behind.
The extract conveys a mood of
dejection
desperation
resentment
resignation
Explanation
The poem, an excerpt from Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, describes the harsh and painful experiences of soldiers in war. The imagery of "bent-double," "coughing like hags," "limped on, blood-shed," and "drunk with fatigue" creates a sense of exhaustion, suffering and deep sorrow.
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