Dulce et Decorum est
Wilfred Owen
Introduction: Dulce et Decorum Est
This poem by Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous anti-war poems, written during
the First World War (1914-1918).
The title is highly ironic: the lines “Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori” come from the
writings of the Roman historian and philosopher Horace. They translate broadly as “It is
sweet and fitting (appropriate) to die for the fatherland”. Owen challenges this idea,
describing it as an ‘old lie’ (line 27) - propaganda used by governments and patriots to
convince young men to go to war and sacrifice their lives in war.
Throughout the poem he describes the horror of war in vivid detail. The poem is highly
descriptive in style as his intention is to show the true face of war and challenge all the
romanticised, glamorised and valorised versions of war contained in propaganda.
In stanza 1, he describes how a platoon of exhausted soldiers trudge (walk heavily with
fatigue) back to base, with shells and flares exploding around them. The battle ground
has become muddy so they tramp through ‘sludge’. Some men have lost their boots so
their feet are covered in blood. Trench foot was a common condition experienced by
soldiers, whose feet began to rot and become gangrenous from constant wading through
mud and water.
Raphaela De Ascensão Study Notes
1
, In stanza 2, a shell containing mustard gas (chlorine gas) explodes among the soldiers
and they desperately fumble to put on their gas masks. One man is unable to put on his
gas mask in time, and he staggers through the mustard gas like a drowning man.
Stanza 3: Owen describes how he is haunted by this experience and has disturbing
dreams of this event. It is clear that Owen is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and he is filled with guilt as he was unable to help this man..
Stanza 4: Owen then directly addresses the reader (‘you’) and says that if the reader had
witnessed the full horror of war, then he or she would never promote or encourage the
pro-war propaganda that it is ‘sweet’ and noble to die for the ‘fatherland’.
Stanza 1
1. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
2. Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
3. Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
4. And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
5. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
6. But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
7. Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
8. Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Diction: throughout the first stanza Owen makes use of emotive language
(emotionally-charged or loaded words) which convey the physical and mental
exhaustion of the soldiers. Words such as ‘bent’, ‘knock-kneed’, ‘trudge’, ‘limp’ and ‘lame’
all convey the fatigue of the soldiers.
Figures of speech: Owen uses two similes to describe the physical hardship of the
soldiers. They are compared to beggars and their coughing is compared to the coughing
Raphaela De Ascensão Study Notes
2
Wilfred Owen
Introduction: Dulce et Decorum Est
This poem by Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous anti-war poems, written during
the First World War (1914-1918).
The title is highly ironic: the lines “Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori” come from the
writings of the Roman historian and philosopher Horace. They translate broadly as “It is
sweet and fitting (appropriate) to die for the fatherland”. Owen challenges this idea,
describing it as an ‘old lie’ (line 27) - propaganda used by governments and patriots to
convince young men to go to war and sacrifice their lives in war.
Throughout the poem he describes the horror of war in vivid detail. The poem is highly
descriptive in style as his intention is to show the true face of war and challenge all the
romanticised, glamorised and valorised versions of war contained in propaganda.
In stanza 1, he describes how a platoon of exhausted soldiers trudge (walk heavily with
fatigue) back to base, with shells and flares exploding around them. The battle ground
has become muddy so they tramp through ‘sludge’. Some men have lost their boots so
their feet are covered in blood. Trench foot was a common condition experienced by
soldiers, whose feet began to rot and become gangrenous from constant wading through
mud and water.
Raphaela De Ascensão Study Notes
1
, In stanza 2, a shell containing mustard gas (chlorine gas) explodes among the soldiers
and they desperately fumble to put on their gas masks. One man is unable to put on his
gas mask in time, and he staggers through the mustard gas like a drowning man.
Stanza 3: Owen describes how he is haunted by this experience and has disturbing
dreams of this event. It is clear that Owen is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and he is filled with guilt as he was unable to help this man..
Stanza 4: Owen then directly addresses the reader (‘you’) and says that if the reader had
witnessed the full horror of war, then he or she would never promote or encourage the
pro-war propaganda that it is ‘sweet’ and noble to die for the ‘fatherland’.
Stanza 1
1. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
2. Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
3. Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
4. And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
5. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
6. But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
7. Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
8. Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Diction: throughout the first stanza Owen makes use of emotive language
(emotionally-charged or loaded words) which convey the physical and mental
exhaustion of the soldiers. Words such as ‘bent’, ‘knock-kneed’, ‘trudge’, ‘limp’ and ‘lame’
all convey the fatigue of the soldiers.
Figures of speech: Owen uses two similes to describe the physical hardship of the
soldiers. They are compared to beggars and their coughing is compared to the coughing
Raphaela De Ascensão Study Notes
2
