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Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est"

BIOGRAPHY

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Historical Context

To learn more about World War I, its causes, major actions, and consequences, explore the excellent PBS exhibit, The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century. The exhibit includes film footage from the war, first-person accounts, audio clips, photographs, maps, and historian commentary. What do you learn about the war that helps to explain Owen's message in the poem?

Other soldiers and officers recorded their war experiences in diaries, letters, and photographs. Read first-hand accounts of conditions in the field, trench warfare, or read descriptions of chlorine gas attacks. How do these historical accounts compare to the images in the poem? In what way is the poetic description a more powerful expression of the experience? In what ways are historical documents more effective?

Both photography and film played a role in recording World War I. Visit the Photo Archive of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 to see some examples. A broad collection of other photos can be found at Photos of the Great War. Do these photographs verify the historical accuracy of the details in the Owen's poem? How does the experience of the visual image compare to that of reading about the war?

Exploring with Comparisons

You will find the complete War Poems and Manuscripts of Wilfred Owen at the Oxford University Web site. Read two or three of the poems and consider how they compare to "Dulce et Decorum Est." If you are using this comparison as an essay topic, read the student essay, Wilfred Owen Poetry Comparison, in which "Dulce et Decorum Est" is compared to "Anthem for Doomed Youth."

Owen is but one of many who wrote World War I poetry. While some poets, like Rupert Brooke and Jessie Pope, celebrated the traditional honor of the soldier, others, like Owen's friend Siegfried Sassoon, criticized the war and unrealistic propaganda about it. Owen may even have directed "Dulce et Decorum Est" against what he believed was the "jingoism" of Pope's poetry. Read several World War I poems by different authors. Look for patterns of contrast and similarity with "Dulce et Decorum Est." Is there any one truth about the war that emerges or is each poem the individual response of one observer? 

How do artists and writers today depict war compared to Owen? Can you think of a contemporary film, novel, television show, or song lyric that has war as its subject matter? Does it criticize war as Owen did or does it make another kind of statement?

If you are considering these ideas for a comparison/contrast essay, look at "War Imagery in Owen's ‘Dulce et Decorum Est' and Sting's ‘Children's Crusade'". This prize-winning student essay comes from Brigham Young University.

If you are unfamiliar with any contemporary war literature, you can find some at 120 War Poems or at the tutorials at 20th Century Poetry and War. If you are interested specifically in comparing anti-war sentiments, take a look at Poets Against the War, a collection of 16,000 poems that protest the U.S. war in Iraq. Naturally, not all war literature criticizes military action; view a movie such as Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers, or Saving Private Ryan and compare the visual imagery and tone to "Dulce et Decorum Est." For a fuller list of war films, read the article at War and Anti-war Films.

Wilfred Owen and the Evolution of the Poem

Oxford University's Introduction to Manuscript Study offers an exceptional online opportunity to compare the various stages of the poem as Owen revised it. Before you begin the online seminar, read the "Biography of Wilfred Owen" and "Background to "Dulce et Decorum Est" sections. Then follow the instructions to begin Stage I, in which you will compare actual manuscript images. You can then move on to Stage II and create your own edition of the poem or you can stop at Stage I to consider why Owen may have made his revisions and how they affect the final version.

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