Analysis of Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

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Analysis of Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

In the poem, Dulce et Decorum Est written by Wilfred Owen, the speaker

appears to be a soldier in the army, warning young people eager for

war, “children ardent for some desperate glory,” that war is not what

it seems. The soldier explains to the reader through first hand

experience that fighting for one’s country is not as glorious a task

as it may appear to be. One shouldn’t believe the lie that is told

about how it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country. The poem

takes place during a war, while the men are marching and death

surrounds them. Throughout the length of the poem, the speaker has a

morose tone, as anyone witnessing so much death and destruction around

them would. By describing the horror surrounding him, the speaker is

trying to convey that if one were to see what he has seen, they would

never believe the lie, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” The

poem expresses to the reader, the pain of war and what it is like to

watch someone die before you...

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