Wilfred Owen Poetry Essay Research Paper Owen

Wilfred Owen Poetry Essay, Research Paper

Owen’s war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of

war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic

and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in‘

Dulce et Decorum Est’ or the unseen, mental torment such as

in‘ Disabled’. His diverse use of instantly understandable

imagery and technique is what makes him the most memorable of the war

poets. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy;

issues previously unconsidered are brought to our attention.

One of Owen’s talents is to convey his complex messages very

proficiently. In‘ Dulce et Decorum Est’–‘ If in

some smothering dreams you too could pace / Behind the wagon that we

flung him in’ the horror of witnessing this event becomes eternal

through dreams. Though this boy died an innocent, war allowed no time to

give his death dignity, which makes the horror so more poignant and

haunting. This is touched on in‘ Mental Cases’–‘

Treading blood from lungs that had loved laughter / Always they must see

these things and hear them’. Many of the sights which will haunt

the surviving soldiers are not what the officials have ordered them to

do, but what they have done to save their own lives. It is the tragedy of

war that you are not able to stop to help a dying man. They then, not

only physically scarred and mentally changed, carry remedyless guilt with

them. They have survived, at the expense of others–‘ Why

speak not they of comrades that went under.’ (‘Spring

Offensive’). Another dimension is that even the enemy soldiers are

just like them, it is the politicians and generals who have caused this

war, not these ordinary men. This is explored in‘ Strange

Meeting’ – the meeting of an enemy who is really a‘

friend’.

Many of Owen’s poems share resentment towards the generals and

those at home who have encouraged war.‘ Disabled’ has a very

bitter tone–‘ Aye, that was it, to please the giddy

jilts’.‘ His Meg’ didn’t stay around after he

joined to‘ please’ her– presumably she is with a‘

strong man’ who is‘ whole’. In‘ The Send

Off’ and‘ Anthem for Doomed Youth’ the prayers and

flowers for the soldiers are mocked– useless offerings to men who

are being sent as sacrifices. In‘ Apologia pro Poemate Meo’

Owen again adopts a harsh tone to those at home -‘ You shall not

come to think them well content/ By any jest of mine . . . They are worth

your tears / You are not worth their merriment’. Much anger is

directed towards those ignorant of the full implications of war, but,

perhaps ironically, his poetry would serve to make them aware. The

thought of killing, watching your comrades be killed and constantly

trying to survive sounds horrific enough, but the precise detail of the

emotions, thoughts and sights of the soldier, succeed to drive the full

horror home. This is where much of Owen’s originality lies, not

vague reporting, but deep cynicism and conveyance of the situations.

Owen sympathises profusely with the vain young men who have no idea of

the horrors of war, who are‘ seduced’ by others and the

recruiting posters. He bitterly rejects the patriotic reasoning for war

in‘ Dulce’. That they eagerly join up for vanities makes

their situation all the more tragic– he‘ threw away his

knees’.‘ Smiling they wrote his lie’ depicts officials

who not only accept this under age boy, but smile knowingly while they do

it. In‘ The Send Off’ a lack of support for these men is

suggested. The young men are to give up their lives as a sacrifice for

their country, but their leaving lacks passionate good byes as‘

they were not ours’. In‘ S.I.W’ the full impacts of

social pressure are highlighted. Though the man’s family clearly

love him, they would‘ sooner him dead than in disgrace’,

leaving him only suicide to escape. This notion of escaping into hell

from war is also in‘ Strange Meeting’.

A recurring theme in Owen’s poetry is the notion of unseen scars.

Though the soldier may return alive or uninjured, their lives will never

be the same. In‘ Disabled’ the pain of the man’s life

is not his injury, but how others react to him. He will never feel love

or live life to the full again. The moment when‘ the women’s

eyes / Passed from him to the strong men’ is wonderfully picked out

by Owen, the women’s embarrassment at staring, and the man’s

misery at no longer being seen as a valid person. Though sleep is relief

from his tortuous life in‘ Disabled’, sleep becomes a hell

for many of the poems. In‘ Dulce et Decorum

Est’–‘ In all my dreams . . . He plunges at me’

and in‘ The Sentry’ the persistent memories–‘ I

try not to remember these things now’.

The detail in Owen’s poetry puts forward his scenes horrifically

and memorably. His poems are suffused with the horror of battle, yet

fi

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