Homeland actor Rupert Friend reads moving 100-year-old anti-war poem on live TV to protest the Syria strike
Homeland actor Rupert Friend recited a nearly 100-year-old poem on CBS This Morning on Friday to protest "the horrors of war," just hours after reports that the U.S. had launched an airstrike on a Syrian airforce base.
Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" was written in 1920 as a reaction to World War I. It ends by calling the Latin phrase dulce et decorum est pro patria mori — which means "it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country" — a "lie."
"The horrors of war are still with us 100 years after this was written," Friend said. "It makes me incredibly sad." Watch below, and read the full poem here. Jeva Lange
The Week
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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