Manuscript of "Dulce Et Decorum Est"
This is the earliest known draft of Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est'. Poems were written on scraps of paper, slanted handwriting like it were taken down resting on a knee in a trench. Even composing a poem could be precarious! How do the poems suggest fragility and the transience of life?
The dedication is to Jessie Pope. She was a poet and propagandist who encapsulated the "play up" and "join the game" attitudes to the war that existed in Britain. Owen clearly wanted this poem to challenge her and others with her attitude.
To dig beneath the drafting process of this poem, you can try an interesting exercise at www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/education/tutorials/manuscript/owen
