"Dolce and Decorum Est" or not?

Wilfred Owen is known and recognized as one of the greatest voices of the First World War. But, what makes this poet different from the others? The life of Wilfred Owen was marked somehow, firstly, for his ambition to attend Oxford and then for his arduous path to find a meaning to his life and to be recognized and accepted by the society, to find his place. 

In 1915 Owen enlisted in the Army, when he sees the opportunity of join the Army as an instance to higher his social networks and to be seen as a valuable member of the community. 

Owen's life in the First World War was just as atrocious as it can be imagined. Since, apart from the several shocking images every soldier had in their mind, Wilfred had an accident in the trench and he had to go to a hospital for treatment. All the events he had live until here, had make him comprehend and be aware of what is the real meaning of being a soldier in period of war. This awareness mixed with Owen's passion about poetry, give us as a result, a poetry masterpiece, "Dolce and Decorum Est"


The name of the poem comes from the Latin and its translation can change, but the idea that reflects is: It is sweet and feeding to die for your country. The name of the poem can be considered an irony regarding the ideas that are expressed in the text, which is a truly painful narration of the war, also full of imagery and frustration because of the life they were living. 

This is an interesting animation I found about the poem, and I think it could be useful for you to have a more literal view of this poem:

Dulce Et Decorum Est Animation

Wilfred Owen was in a context of a World War when he wrote this poem. Maybe that was the reason why he made a hasty decision of joining the Army. It might have been very frustrating to waste your life, in a way, because maybe you couldn't think in other options or maybe you thought you took the best choice, but, you actually didn't. The soldiers spent years in the trench, working for a fake national morale, even when they knew they were not going to live.

Nowadays, even though we are not living a war by itself, we are living an existential war. We are not sure of who we are, who we can trust on, what things are worth doing and having in life and in those aspects we may say that our life is not as different as it was in the First World War. 

There are two lines in the poem that called my attention:

"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning."

For me is a very significant part of the poem. From my point of view it means that  people in general use to get to the end of their lives and at that moment they realize they cannot change the decisions they have done. Die for their country, try to accomplish the expectations that other people have about them, or even spend time doing things they don't like... Is it worth it? 

References:
http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/owen-the-poet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfyXGcByLxc