The title of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” alludes to the words of a Latin saying from Horace’s ode (Ode III.2.13).The words mean:” “It is sweet and right.” The saying is rounded off at the end of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” to signify what the poet actually meant.

The poem penned during the First World War dealt with the denunciation and disapproval of war. Published posthumously in 1920, the first draft was dedicated to Poe, and a revised later draft to “a certain poetess.” Nevertheless, the poem comes across as a signpost to the supporters of war that was detrimental to humanity .

The poet outlines the predicament of the average soldier involved in war. He describes their ordeal as they travel: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” The speaker makes this comparison as their backs are bent ‘doubly’ by the hardships they endured plus the demands of their profession. Due to this posture and intense fatigue, they walked “knock-kneed.” Their exhaustion had influenced their temperament rendering them as grouchy as old-cursing hags. They turned their backs to the ‘haunting flares.’ The phrase refers to rockets that were sent up to ignite with a radiant glare,so that it would reveal with its radiance, men and other concealed target/arms in the region flanked by the front lines. They started off for their ‘distant rest’: the retreat for the soldiers overcome with intense fatigue. Though they trudged on holding on to dear life, they gave one the impression that they were asleep. While literally some lost their boots, and some went blood-shod; figuratively all went lame and most of them were blinded by exhaustion. Their senselessness is described by the poet in distressing words “they were drunk with fatigue.” Overcome with weariness, they were deaf even to the noise of the shells. ”Five-Nines” signifies the 5.9 calibre explosive shells. They have managed to ‘outstrip’ or outspace the shells as they are conveniently away from the scene of battle.

Subsequently, they are caught up with a sense of alertness as a poisonous gas leaks out unexpectedly. The speaker probably points to chlorine or phosgene gas. They are caught in an “ecstasy of fumbling” for their helmets. Here ‘ectsasy’ means ‘frenzy”. Interestingly the exclamation:”Gas! Gas!” has pointers. The original manuscript of the prescribed poem ( dated 8 October 1917 )was addressed to Owen’s mother, Susan Owen, with the note “Here is a gas poem done yesterday, (which is not private, but not final). “According to sources, ’helmet’ was the earlier name for gas masks. The poet encounters a man floundering about restlessly succumbing to the effect of the poisonous gas, as with a man in fire or lime. ‘Lime’ refers to “a white chalky substance that can burn liver tissue.” The speaker is aghast as he watches through the ‘misty panes'(the glass pane) of the gas mask. Everything comes across as green as they are surrounded by flickers of light and the abundant green vegetation. In such an atmosphere, the man in question appears to be drowning in a green sea. The sound ‘guttering’ refers to the grinding noises the man makes as he is choking and wrestling with death.

The poet requests his readers: if ever they envisioned such a horrific scene in their wildest of dreams; if only one witnesses the whiteness in his eyes, the blankness that said everything. If only, one saw his contorted face that was likened to the devil’s sick of sin. If one could bear with the dreadful sound of blood issuing forth from his froth-corrupted lungs ,that grows on one’s system as obscenely as cancer. Or he had the guts to encounter the froth coming from his mouth that looked like the regurgitated grass that cows chewed on(cod). The poet declares that in the face of such a ghastly reality ,one would never even utter to his ardent children the age-old adage:

Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori

The lines signify that “it is sweet and right to die for your country.” The line : “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” was inscribed on the wall of the chapel of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst(1913). This is what Owen refers to as “The old Lie” in the final stanza of this poem.The poet thus contrasts in the poem, the eloquent idealism of war against the unsung dreadful realities.

In such a context, the genuineness of the ideal is also questioned. That -whether people do it for the glory or heroism associated with it; or perform their duty just for the sake of righteousness.

©Rukhaya MK 2010

The content is the copyright of Rukhaya MK. Any line reproduced from the article has to be appropriately documented by the reader. ©Rukhaya MK. All rights reserved.