Dulce et Decorum Est

• Context for Dulce et Decorum Est:

  • Poem is a response to propaganda and jingoism (extreme patriotism) as Owen exposes the true horror and brutality of WW1
  • Wilfred Owen wrote the poem as a reaction to the work of Jess Pope, a poet who actively encouraged enlisting and whose poems are strongly pro-war
  • Owen fought in WW1 and suffered from shell shock. He died a week before Armistice Day which makes the poem more poignant
  • The title is Latin - sweet and fitting
• Structure for Dulce et Decorum Est:

  • Stanza 3 is short and dramatic possibly to reflect how quickly situations change in war
  • The last stanza becomes a direct appeal to the reader. Owen needs us to understand the horror of war and to reject the propaganda and lies
• 1st quote: "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks"


  • Owen's use of similes dehumanises the soldiers. They are weak, exhausted and not fit to fight. War has aged them.
  • The alliteration of plosives (b sounds) emphasises Owen's anger and bitterness at their suffering
• 2nd quote: "All went lame; all blind"


  • Owen exposes the brutal conditions of fighting on the front line
  • The repetition of the adverb "all" emphasises the sheer horror of war - no soldier is spared
  • The sense are impaired in every way. It's gruelling and exhausting
• 3rd quote: "Gas! GAS! Quick boys!"

  • In the next stanza the gas attack begins. There is shift in pace and tone as the exclamation marks and monosyllabic words emphasise the urgency and panic
  • Owen employs vivid imagery comparing the gas to the sea. The soldier who fails to put his mask on is drowning his lungs liquefy
• 4th quote: "In all my dreams he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning"


  • Owen is clearly traumatised and relives the images in flashbacks. The use of the present tense suggests this is a reoccurring nightmare and the use of the verbs describes the soldier's death as harrowing and gruesome
• Last quote: " The old lie"


  • The last stanza becomes more and more angry and bitter in tone as it describes the soldier's agonising death. Owen ends with a direct address to the readers and Jesse Pope - there is no glory in dying for your country; it is all a lie (the propaganda is a lie)