COVE

In English this translates to "It is sweet and honorable to die for your country." Wilfred Owen refers to this phrase as "the old lie". I believe he uses this phrase because soldiers had no idea what they were in for during their time in the Great War. No war had been fought in the same way that WWI had been fought, before WWI wars were fought with both sides standing in lines opposite each other firing muskets while holding the line. WWI truly changed the way that war was fought. This picture is a propaganda piece encouraging young men to take up in arms to fight in the war and their country before it is too late and the enemy is at their door. Made in Ireland during the war, posters like this were used to persuade men that if they didn't fight their home and country would be overrun by the enemy. In some ways this could be true, especially in Europe at the time. However this photo make is seem like you will be a hero for enduring the war, where in reality it is likely that you will endure an awful death at the hands of a bullet, gas, infection, or explosives.