anyone familiar with "dulce et decorum est"?

[aewh]

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.So I'm a special education English teacher and I'm trying to create a reading guide for my 10th graders when I suddenly realized that I didn't really know what Owen meant by "haunting flares". I'm having trouble finding this info on the internet. I have a bit of an idea but I don't want to give my students the wrong information. Can someone give me a hand?

[sweets2690]

I'd ask an English teacher at the school?

[VeeGood]

When in doubt, google!This site has some explanations, it was only the first site that came up when I googled dulce et decorum est.Hope it helps!

[i_be_superminion1280]

I'm pretty sure it refers to a will-o'-the-wisp, a tricky little light in the marshes that leads men off the safe path at night.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_o'_the_wisp