Everyone has heard poems, stories and songs about the glory and heroism of war. It's a common image: strong, noble, courageous soldiers, helping a fallen comrade or sneaking up on the enemy, flying a plane through hostile territory to bring supplies to troops in need, running bravely to the front lines of a battle, or perhaps save innocent civilians from the clutches of whatever evil army threatens them. If a soldier dies, he does so with courage and beauty, while “The Star-Spangled Banner” plays in the background. However, in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Wilfred Owen states that this image is not the reality of war. Although many say that “dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” – sweet and fitting is to die for one's country – the poet says that dying in war is not grand or graceful; it's awkward and common and there's nothing to aspire to. In this poem, the poet says that dying in war (and in war in general) is not "sweet" or "decency" at all, but bitter and wrong. Wilfred Owen writes that this statement, that it is “sweet and fitting to die for one's country,” is “the old lie.” He describes the death of a soldier at the hands of poisonous gas: “But still some cried out and stumbled / And struggled like a man in fire or lime.” When this soldier falls, the other men must walk “behind the cart into which we threw him.” The death is the exact opposite of the honorable and graceful deaths described in ballads and the like; the body is not even disposed of properly. “Dulce et decorum est”, in fact. In “Dulce et Decorum Est,” the words and images used in the poem and their connotations reinforce how horribly insignificant and inelegant the death of a soldier can be, and how ugly the whole matter of war is. is....... middle of paper......h the defense of your country is important, it is equally important to have an idea of ​​the reality of war before risking your life, and this is what Wilfred Owen he tried to do it in this poem. Abandon your image of glory, he says, and prepare for the real world of war, a world that is far from the ideas everyone encounters in idealistic literature, art, and music. Look beyond the majestic gravestones with their flowers and tiny flags fluttering in the wind and discover the story behind these seemingly heroic deaths: see the gas clouds, see the hidden mines, see the incessant gunfire and pools of blood. Look at the desperate troops, the fear, the weakness behind all these macho men. Look at the mutilated bodies – if there ever is a body; look at the grieving families with their endless tears. This is war, he says, and it's anything but sweet.