Dulce et Decorum Est’s Denunciation of Irrational Patriotism Anonymous 12th Grade

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, published posthumously in 1920, is a ferocious denunciation of the war propagandists who with blind patriotism, glorify warfare. Owen intended to explicitly respond to Jesse Pope’s enthusiastic war poems. Dulce et Decorum Est divulges the brutalities of warfare through portraying the traumatic situation of soldiers during World War I. Three sections are presented in this poem: the retreat of exhausted soldiers; the suffering of the soldier from a sudden gas attack; and a powerful criticism of war propagandists. The senseless sacrifice of life and devastation is conveyed through Owen’s meticulous composition of imagery and sound as well as the effective use of a variety of poetic devices.

Wilfred Owen was a poet and a junior officer in the British army and he is widely regarded as one of the leading and most admired war poets of World War I. The title of the poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, is the Latin phrase which derives from the Roman lyrical poet, Horace, meaning that “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.” Owen reprimands the hypocrisy of those who exhort young adults with classical concepts that no longer correspond to the horrifying reality of warfare. The illustration of his...