The West and the World since 1500

Dulce et Decorum Est, a poem written by Wilfred Owen of England, depicts a battlefield during World War I. The soldiers, weak, worn out, and under gas attack, stumble forward. In this poem, Owen comments on the long-standing lie the older generations tell their countrymen of fighting age. They say that dying for their country is a worthy death, (though these deaths often be gruesome) and that any man should be wiling to do so: “If you could hear [it…]My friend, you would not tell with such high zest/ To children ardent for some desperate glory/ The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori [It is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country].”[endnoteRef:1] Owen speaks about the physical conditions of the soldiers, and how the war has taken a toll on them, describing the men as “[b]ent down double, like old beggars under sacks,/ Knock-kneed, coughing like hags.”[endnoteRef:2] In this analysis I argue that Owen disagrees with the old Lie, asserting that if those telling and believing this lie were to actually be on the battlefield and be surrounded by the morbidity and gruesomeness, they would not be feeding young children this Lie. [1: Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum est,” in The West and the World since 1500: Wright State University (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013), 654.] [2: Owen, 653.]

Owen and the other soldiers, in the midst of being under fire of gas-shells, continue on. The men march forward, some doing so seemingly in their sleep, some barefoot,[endnoteRef:3] but still march. This shows how the men have become almost desensitized to the conditions of war, and how they have learned to perform in such horrid situations. Their physical condition is essentially an afterthought at this point in battle, as the impression is given off that the soldiers know and understand that if they can walk, they can fight. And they do. Exhausted and numb to the ensuing danger and impending doom of gas-shells around and behind them[endnoteRef:4], Owen and the men move forward. The soldiers have the old Lie of their elders engrained in them and will give their all for their country. They will fight until they die, and thusly will die an honorable death in laying down their lives for their country: the ultimate price. [3: Owen, 653.] [4: Owen, 653.]

Owen later illustrates one of his comrades dying amidst the march onward, being taken victim to the gas attack they were marching away from: “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,/ As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.”[endnoteRef:5] The soldiers, equipped with helmets to protect them from such attacks,[endnoteRef:6] fumble to put their helmets on when the presence of the gas is detected by one of their men. In the aforementioned quote, Owen describes a man that did not get his helmet on in time, and is unfortunately affected by the poisonous gas. He goes into detail about how painful a death the soldier is experiencing, and how helpless he feels, being able to do nothing but watch death overtake his fellow soldier. Owen depicts the event saying, “In all my dreams before my helpless sight/ He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”[endnoteRef:7] The English soldiers are choking on the old Lie, forced upon them by the older generations of men. They are taught from a young age that this is an honorable thing to do: to go to the front lines of battle and fight for your beloved country, dying if necessary, in the name of freedom and patriotism. The men, as the life drains from their eyes, drown under the effects of the gas, and are figuratively drowning under the weight of the old Lie they have been forced to carry on their backs. They are drowning under the hope of glory in their death; hope that their death will mean something. [5: Owen, 654.] [6: Owen, 654.] [7: Owen, 654.]

At the end of the poem, Owen comments on the fact that the deaths of the soldiers are so visually sickening, so incredibly vile, that if the generations selling the old Lie to the younger generations could witness the deaths firsthand, that they would not dare tell children the Lie with such vigor and commitment.[endnoteRef:8] I assert that Owen believes these older generations of Englishmen tell the old Lie, and with such conviction, because they do not see what happens on the battlefield. They sell the lie, because they have not seen the truth. [8: Owen, 654.]