Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est: A Comprehensive Literary Analysis
Introduction Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) is regarded as the best war poets of the First World War for his realistic and bleak portrayals of trench warfare. His poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" (composed in 1917 and published after his death in 1920) is a condemnation as a strong negation of the idea that "it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country." The poem's Latin title – from Roman poet Horace's Odes (III.2.13) – finishes up the great line "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," or "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country. Owen's prose brutally dismantles this classical ideal, exposing it as "the old Lie" uttered to generations of young combatants.In what follows, this analysis will consider the biographical and historical context of "Dulce et Decorum Est," offer a close reading of its language, tone, imagery, and structure, examine its principal themes (most significantly Owen's undermining of war...