Dulce Et Decorum Est

Dulce et Decorum est is a poem written about the first world war. Its Wilfred Owens first hand account of World War I, the War that, ultimately, killed him. Wilfred Owen was an anti-war poet. He wrote of the horrible conditions encounter by the young soldier in the trenches.

Owen used imagery to portray the horrors of war, he paints a vivid picture with his words. This is especially evident when he writes:

“If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,- “

When you hear these words you can almost feel the pain of the people experiencing it. The author chooses to use raw, real words to get his message across. Unlike many other poets who would use flowing, beautiful phrases, as to almost make you forget about the horrid subject matter being discussed, Wilfred Owen poem has an unconventional structure to make the reader think outside the box. There is hardly any rhythm, in order to portray the chaos surrounding him.

The last line of the poem:

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Witch is Latin for ‘it is a sweet and glorious thing to die