dulce et decorum est
saying peace
Dulce et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
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.
Wilfred Owen
showing peace
doing peace
The theme today is Global Peace
The poem was written by English poet and soldier Wilfred Owen who was born on the 18th March 1893.
The title of the poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is Latin and was taken from a writing of the Roman poet Horace and means "it is sweet and fitting". It is followed by pro patria mori, which means "to die for one's country". Owen makes it clear that he thinks the idea that it is a 'sweet and fitting' thing to die for your country' is a lie.
After school he became a teaching assistant and in 1913 went to France for two years to work as a language tutor. He began writing poetry as a teenager.
In 1915 he returned to England to enlist in the army. He left to fight on the western front in January 1917. After experiencing heavy fighting, he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or 'shellshock' and was evacuated back to England to recover.
He returned to France in August 1918 and in October was awarded the Military Cross for bravery. On 4th November 1918 he was killed whilst attempting to lead his men across the Sambre canal at Ors. The news of his death reached his parents on 11th November, Armistice Day. The day the war ended.
After the war poppy flowers grew on some of the battle fields. To this day the poppy is still worn as a symbol of peace by Europeans on 11th September every year.
- write a letter as if you were writing to a family member or friend fighting in a war or write as if you were a soldier writing to a loved one at home. Include what you see, hear, smell, taste and feel in your letter.
- share and discuss your letter with someone else in your family, at school or via another online community