Here's what Chiara wrote: 

"I personally think that Owen’s words are extremely powerful and thought provoking. As a matter of fact, he describes the soldiers’ exhausting life: they advance like beggars, they are destroyed, tired, dusty and covered in mud. Moreover, when I saw the images in the video I strongly convinced myself that war is the most destructive and pitiless of all human activities. It inflicts both physical and emotional injuries and it always requires death. Taking life away from others goes against the most fundamental moral value of our society: the right to Life. Conflicts provoke anger, grief, guilt, and hatred, which are not admirable emotions. In addition, I strongly believe that wars are not something that we should forget. Indeed, we must remember them in order not to repeat the same mistake. Besides, it is impossible to let wars slip from the memory because they are still current. Unluckily, the world is full of hostilities and armed conflicts. I can mention Syria, Iraq and the nowadays tensions between USA and Iran. To conclude, I can say that the video made me feel so sorry for the soldiers and made me consider that, despite the copious victims, men continue to be selfish."

Marta S

Owen's poem 'Dulce et Decorum est' is so visual and powerful that, as I read it, I found myself living in the moments the poet describes. I am the soldier who dies and I am the soldier who lives. I am the naïve child who dreams of glory and I am the young man who enlists to fight for his Country. I am the mother who will cry the death of her son and I am the woman who will forever wait for her beloved husband and lover. Whenever I read something as powerful and as touching as this poem, I become enraged and I ask myself how it is possible that something so horrifying and devastating could have happened. We make false promises of never letting it happen again and yet, everyday when we watch the news, images as gut-wrenching as the ones Owen describes and the ones the video shows flash before our eyes. I feel powerless and ask myself whether Mankind will ever learn or , as John F. Kennedy said, war will put an end to Mankind itself.

Alessia M

At first sight, I suddently thought that 'Dolce et Decorum Est' was one of those boring poems, written by authors who were profoundly disappointed with the society of their times, therefore they looked back at the past ages. So I imagined that all the stanzas would have been written by using Petrarchan words or merely Dante's rhyme, but as I read some verses, I totally changed my mind. In fact, the poem is full of pain: you can even hear the sound of those struggling voices of soldiers who are dying in the tranches. However, the title is extremely ironic and it gives the reader a sense of sweetness, even if war has nothing to do with it. In addition, the use of verbs of movement (fast rhythm) which are alternated with gentle metaphors (slow rhythm), makes me feel profoundly anguished. In any case, I think that Wilfred Owen did not want to turn our stomach, but he wanted to communicate how war really was. It was not "sweet and honourable" as the title described and neither a way to celebrate the values of the native country. It was a machine gun, which sent innocents to death's embrace.

Silvia S

Owen belongs to the group of 'war poets': he is communicative and gives the reader all the means to imagine the scenes he describes. When I first read “Dulce et Decorum Est” I did not understand each word but I felt anxious and frightened for those poor soldiers who died in the trenches after a terrible gas attack. His verses are impactful and strong. The poet judges the people who were in favour of the war. He takes position and admits that it was not positive at all. It provokes sufferance, death, pain, physical and mental permanent illnesses. Nowadays, we are facing a critical crisis, people talk about bombs and soldiers on the news and journalists deal more and more with conflicts in newspapers. I see that the basic idea hasn’t changed: men believe that conflicts are, in some way, necessary. I believe in Peace and in the power of international diplomacy: reach agreements without violence. 

Melissa D

This poem struck me for the brutality of the author's sincerity, he explains, through his experience, life in the trenches. "Dulce et Decorum Est pro patria mori" means that it is correct to die for your country. This idea of patriotism deceived many young soldiers, but then they realised the horrors of the war. I consider this patriotism ridiculous! The poet rejects the message of many men that war is glorious and it is an honor to die for their country. In Owen’s poem, he illustrates the brutal struggle of a group of soldiers and he also focuses on the story of a soldier's anguished death. A war places millions of innocent people in risk. War is a selfish thing. It is characterized by extreme violence and destruction. The life of a soldier is atrocious, the brutal reality of death is an unimaginable agony. When I saw the images in the video I felt a sense of disgust and I can't even imagine the pain of the families of the time, it makes me feel really angry about the horror that man can provoke.

Emma B

It is nearly impossible for us to imagine the heartbreaking sufferings that the soldiers of World War I (and of any conflict) had bore; however, the words of Owen, who directly lived them and decided to communicate his experiences to the future generations in order not to forget, made me feel as if I were there. Owen’s poem is definitely crude, powerful and extremely direct, but I think that this is the only way to touch the reader; only evoking the events as they are, even if it is a sad reality, we can be aware of our history. Reading Owen’s words I feel extremely lucky, because until now I've had a joyful life and I can not complain about anything. I can not imagine the despair of the poor young men stripped from their ordinary life and their families and forced to be in constant danger. Finally, I’m sorry for those who lost their life on the battelfield, and I regret even more for those who survived and came back home, because I am sure that they could not close their eyes without living again what they had experienced.

Eva B

Reading the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”, we can easily understand that the aim of this poem is to advise future generations of the disasters that a war can cause, in order to maintain peace forever. But one hundred years later, the news are announcing that WW3 is likely to happen, so I wonder whether we are able to learn from our mistakes or we just ignore them.

That’s why by reading this poem I felt shocked: I asked myself how it is possible that human beings can survive in trenches in such conditions. In fact, the soldiers’ pain was not only physical, but also psychological, because those soldiers saw people dying everyday. In fact, sometimes it was their enemies to die but sometimes it was their friends too, as stanza 3 shows us. 

Giulia P

After reading and listening to a poem such as "Dolce et Decorum est", in my opinion it is inevitable to identify with the author, even though we have never experienced the horrors of war on our skin. The fact that the poem presents such dramatic images gives you the idea of what the war could have been. Every time I end up reading or watching something that concerns any kind of conflict, especially the first World War, and how it was organised and lived, I think about all those unaware boys, who were sent to fight without the necessary means and die as if they were animals for slaughter. In my opinion studying poems which concern this period of history is of vital importance in order to learn from those experiences and avoid repeating the same mistakes of that time. Unfortunately, nowadays we are going in the same wrong direction as a result of our ignorance. I'm wondering if we will ever be able to learn from our mistakes and most importantly, if we will actually have time to fix them, since we are living in such a difficult time.

Anna F

In the poem “Dulce et decorum est”, Owen’s aim is to show and denounce the horrors of war. He makes the reader understand the dreadful situation and the terrible sufferance of the soldiers through impactful images. In fact, it is really hard to comprehend how it was to fight and live in the trenches. The author wants to show us the reality, because we can’t believe in “the old lie” the supporters of the war tell. As a matter of fact, there is nothing sweet or glorious in dying for the country, because conflicts cause only pain and death. The population does not take any advantage from wars because they are made in the interest of powerful people. Common people have to face fights, poverty and the loss of their beloved ones, while those who are in power give orders and don’t fight on the front line. The promises of glory are only illusions. Nevertheless, nowadays there are many conflicts around the world and there is the serious risk that others begin. For this reason, the work of war poets is really important and we should never forget what happened in the past. 

Simone Q

From the start of Wilferd Owen's poem, we are immersed in the atmosphere of war. These are the trenches of WWI, full of mud and death. Through his realistic descriptions, the author wants to raise awareness of the fact that war has nothing honorable; in contrast, the violence of war degrades people and takes their humanity and honour away. Furthermore, this poem is packed full of vivid images of the heart of battle. Moreover, these images, visible in the video in which the reader is Sam West, make us feel a sense of horror and terror towards the war and a sense of compassion and respect towards these poor soldiers. ‌

Giada Z

Being a part of the new generations, I can say that we feel the First World War distant from us; however, seeing images and especially reading testimonies and poems such as "Dulce et Decorum Est" written by W. Owen, I can't help feeling pain and a sense of deep discomfort. With his honest and crude images, Owen made me feel different emotions. Firstly, I felt lucky not to have a relative that had to go through that horrible experience. Then, I also felt useless and angry when he says "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". In fact, powerful people only cared about power and not about their citizens, whom they sent to the front to die not thinking about their miserable conditions in the trenches.

Here's what Moreno wrote: 

"The young soldier Wilfred Owen clearly saw the horrors of the war and the sad life everyone had to live during the Great War, when the armies still didn’t come up with a solution to the methods of attack, like shells and gas bombs. Here we see, in this poem, how soldiers reacted to a gas bomb’s attack, and what happened to some of them. A useless mask tried to save the victims, but eventually those who were reached by the toxin died. Owen describes these facts as a “pity” of men: it means that wars will never reach their goal if somebody must die in order to support his army and his Nation. Therefore, nobody should ever think about going against someone else and fight because we are brothers, and we might be part of a strong brotherhood if all of us in the world believe that we are all the same and that killing each other will not bring us to our originally goal. Anyway, not only WERE the soldiers victim of the war: there have been gentle and brave men and expecially women who wanted to help their friends or their husbands. These people worked hidden from the enemy, but unfortunately sometimes they were kidnapped, killed or raped. Moreover, we should be aware of the substantial help of the normal citizens who, in a period of labour power’s lack had to work harder; at the end of the war, in fact, everybody were grateful of their work and even women gained more respect by the State for what they HAD done during the conflict (in the U.K., the sufragettes WERE GRANTED the right TO vote). In conclusion, I don’t agree with the latin poet Horace’s statement: “Dulce et Decorum Est, pro patria mori”: EVEN THOUGH it Is right to fight if we have to protect our families or our Nation, the soldiers will never find it a honorable ACTION to kill a foreigner who had never been a threat to him or his Country"...