Mr. Gershman
Miss Arsenault
ILA 9 Honors
Carrie Quaco
November 14, 2008
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
The old Lie: “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”. This Latin term meaning
“sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country” is the focal point of Wilfred Owen’s
poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”. Owen, a member of the War Poetry movement, wrote this
poem during World War I in order to warn others about the “old Lie”, and tell them about
the horrors of death during war. It has been said that Owen capitalized the “L” in “old
Lie” because he believed it hinted toward a “well established and well believed saying”
(Dulce et Decorum Analysis). Owen illustrates in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” the
factuality of the “old Lie”, however critics suggest this claim to be false.
Throughout his poem Owen often uses irony to convey his message. Within the
first few lines, it is already apparent that “Dulce et Decorum Est” conflicts with its title.
“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed
through sludge” (Owen) does not leave us thinking of these soldiers as noble and strong
men. Later in the poem, Owen describes the death of another soldier. The manner that is
used to describe this leaves us thinking of death as “anything but sweet”:
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime …
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning (Owen).
In the last stanza of “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Owen finally uses the “old Lie” without any
irony involved. He does this by referring to it as just that: the “old Lie”. By stating this,
Owen is insinuating that the reader should cease to think of death during war as patriotic
and “fitting”.
In “Dulce et Decorum Est” Owen addresses his recurring dream, where he is
forced to relive the death of his fellow soldier every time that he closes his eyes.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
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 (Owen).
Here Owen addresses the readers, telling them that if they had been there and seen what
he had seen, they would not believe so highly in the “old Lie”. He uses a great deal of
alliteration, which helps us in visualizing his dream. According to Kimberly Lutz, Owen
“deliberately stayed up late in order to shorten his sleeping hours during his wartime
hospitalization in Scotland, trying hopelessly to escape the memories that invaded his
dreams” (Hibberd). The nightmare of what happened during battle is something that
haunted Wilfred Owen for a lifetime.
When critically analyzing “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Daniel Moran compares it to
Shakespeare’s Henry V, which contains one of Bard’s most “popular and rousing
speeches: When King Henry learns that the morale of his soldiers has sank, he realizes
that he must rouse them to action for their upcoming battle against the French at
Harfleur” (Moran). Henry apparently “rouses” the soldiers by convincing them that
whatever happens, they will be remembered for their courage and loyalty. In this way he
is conflicting with Wilfred Owen’s beliefs. When Wilfred Owen talks about his dream
and says “If you could hear”, he is addressing everyone that shares the same beliefs as
King Henry V. Therefore, he is encouraging everyone that “clothes the horrors of war in
beautiful words” (Moran) to cease spreading the word of the “old Lie”.
The death of Wilfred Owen’s fellow soldier is just an example of some of the
horrors that took place during World War I. “Dulce et Decorum Est” helps give readers
today a further understanding of what happened to some soldiers during battle. Back
then, it convinced many people to abandon their belief in “Dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori” and listen to what Wilfred Owen had to share with them.
Dulce et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed 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-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime …
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
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,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Works Cited
"Dulce et Decorum Est Analysis." Elite Skills Classics. 11 Nov. 2008
<http://www.eliteskills.com/c/1807>.
Lutz, Kimberly. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poetry for Students. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Gale.
11 Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>.
Miller, Tyrus. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poetry for Students. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Gale. 11
Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>.
Moran, Daniel. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poetry for Students. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Gale. 11
Nov. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>.
Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. 3 Nov.
2008
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=GVRL>.