How is war represented in ‘Suicide in the trenches’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum est’? ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a poem written by Wilfred Owen between the years 1917 and 1918. It describes the life on the battlefield and how it impacted the life of the soldiers. Owen most likely used his first hand experiences from when he was a soldier in World War 1. This poem describes the soldiers personal perspectives of war using the bare naked truth, not glorifying it in anyway. The purpose of ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is to not embellish the truth of war, but to show how tragic and useless it is. ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ hints that it is “sweet and honourable” to be at war, encouraging soldiers to go, however, as the reader begins to read they find out that Owen is truly against war. Owen shows that the soldiers are ruined, both mentally and physically. Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ structure hints to the uncertainty of war. In the first eight lined stanza, Owen describes the soldiers from a third person point of view. The second stanza is shorter and consists of six lines. This stanza is more personal and is written from a first person 's point of view. This stanza reflects the pace of the soldiers as everything is fast and uncoordinated because of the gas, anxiety and the clumsiness of the soldiers. The last stanza consists of 12 lines. This is a funeral march and therefore a slower moving stanza which is achieved by the many commas used. The poem is written in chronological