Dulce et Decorum Est

After reading the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est,” I saw the poem as a way to contradict its title. The title of the poem and the last two lines are derived from a poem of Horace. The full line, when translated, is saying “How sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country.” The body of the poem seems to contradict this saying explaining in graphic detail, the horrors of war. Owen starts the poem off in somewhat dark tone as he says in line 2, “Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” Owen then continues to elaborate more on the gloomy situation he and his soldiers are in. From this first stanza, I was getting the sense that Owen was trying to throw the war into the face of the reader so that the reader would have a much better understanding of his opposition towards it.
In the second stanza, the tone of the poem is seemingly becoming more intense as Owen then begins to tell the reader of losing a soldier. He starts of the stanza by talking about the gas shells being thrown at them. He states that the soldiers got their helmets on just in time but one soldier was unable to do so (line 11). He then goes on to further explain his opposition to the war by asking if the reader would be able to walk behind the wagon the soldier was thrown in and “watch the white eyes writhing in his face” (line 19). I believe Owen does a great job of explain how the titles and last two lines are lies as he clearly explain that there is no glory in the war, only pain suffering, and sorrow.