Owen wrote the poem in response to another poem by Jessie Pope that he read in the Daily Mail. Jessie Pope's poem is propaganda to persuade the men of Britain to "give (their) country a hand" and fight in the war. It refers to the war as "fun" to persuade people to join in the war effort. People were becoming misguided by all the pro-war propaganda that was around during this period. However, Owen knew the truth about the war, and he wrote "Dulce et Decorum est" to educate people about the reality of war and as a clear message to Jessie Pope that she did not understand the reality of the war. .
The starting stanza of the poem describes the soldiers in an incredibly poor physical shape, "bent double" and "knock-kneed". Owen uses a simile to describe the soldiers as "like old beggars". Owen describes the journey back from the trenches where the men were fatigued and weary. He describes how "many had lost their boots" but still "limped on" with so little energy that they do not notice the sound of bombs dropping behind them. The descriptions create pity for the soldiers in the mind of the reader. The stanza has a slow rhythm that could be described, like the soldiers, as weary.
The second stanza starts instantly with excitement. Owen uses three short sentences consisting of just one or two words, each followed by an exclamation mark. He is describing the panic of the soldiers during a mustard gas attack. In the First World War, gas was used as a weapon to kill soldiers. The soldiers in the poem fumble to fit their "clumsy helmets" to stop them being killed by the gas. However, one soldier, a soldier described merely as "someone", does not fit his gas mask. The man is described as "yelling out" and "stumbling". Owen uses "clumsy" to describe the helmet when he is really referring to the soldiers in their state of panic. Owen describes how the scene looks; with the gas creating a "thick green light".
