payment page
Study Tools
Overview
“Dulce Et Decorum Est” is an antiwar poem written by the British poet Wilfred Owen
. The poem’s speaker offers a first-hand account of the horrific suffering soldiers faced on the front lines of the First World War. This account serves as the basis for the speaker’s condemnation of all those who, in the face of the war’s singular devastation, continue to peddle the “old Lie” that war is an opportunity to win glory. Written while Owen was recovering from “shell shock” and published after he was tragically killed in action, the poem remains his most famous. It also ranks among the most frequently cited works of antiwar literature.Read the free full text, a summary & analysis, an analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “Dulce Et Decorum Est.”
