Who Said ‘Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori’?

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Let’s begin this week with a nice straightforward poetry question. Which poet gave us the quotation, ‘dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’? The war poet Wilfred Owen has made these words resonate with new meaning in the last century or so, but we owe the line to a much older, very different poet. Meaning Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is Latin for ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country’ ( patria is where we get our word ‘patriotic’ from: it literally means ‘fatherland’, and is thus linked to the Latin noun pater , meaning ‘father’). Sometimes ‘decorum’ is translated as ‘honourable’ or ‘noble’ (or another adjective conveying a similar sentiment): after all, even in modern English, if someone’s behaviour is ‘decorous’ it is fitting or appropriate for a particular occasion. The word ‘decorate’, meanwhile, may more often be used to describe painting or wallpapering a room or something similar, but the words more specialised meaning – such as to decorate a soldier with medals for their honourable conduct or bravery in the line of duty – bears witness to this verb’s origins in the Latin for ‘honour’. If you ‘decorate’ someone with awards, you honour them with grace. Origins The phrase originated in the Roman poet Horace, in his Odes . The ode in question calls upon Roman citizens to develop military skills that will cause the enemies of Rome to throw up their weapons in sheer terror. Specifically, it’s Rome’s enemy the Parthians whom Horace has in mind. Roman citizens should put themselves through the strict ordeal of learning warfare and military discipline so that the Parthians will dread the mere sight of them. Wilfred Owen’s Poem In October 1917, Wilfred Owen wrote to his mother from Craiglockhart Hospital: ‘Here is a gas poem, done yesterday … the famous Latin tag (from Horace, Odes) means of course it is sweet and meet to die for one’s country. Sweet! and decorous!’ Although he drafted the poem that October, the surviving drafts of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ show […]

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