Dulce et Decorum Est is a World War I–era poem written by the English poet and soldier Wilfred Owen. The title of the poem is taken from a famous line from an ode by Horace—"Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori" (meaning "It is sweet and proper to die for the fatherland")—but through the use of its horrific imagery criticizes such pro-war sentiment and has become one of the most famous written condemnations of war.
"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." (Read on...)
Featured August 2006