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Wilfred Owen Influences

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An estimated 10 million soldiers died in World War One, many of whom would have gone on to do great things. One soldier, however, managed to secure a legacy for himself that had nothing to do with fighting but everything to do with the war. Wilfred Owen is one of the most recognized war poets from the First World War, and his poems are some of the most truthful from that time as well. He is credited with portraying the war as what it really was rather than glorifying it like Tennyson or other war poets (“Dulce et Decorum Est” 108). Owen spent his entire short life loving poetry and expanding his own style of writing. His mother and other poets like Siegfried Sassoon had a big influence on Owen’s life as a poet. The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is one of the greatest representations of his brilliant works of poetry. …show more content…

Owen was the oldest child, and he had the closest relationship with his mother Susan. His mother helped him develop his interest in music and literature, which helped Owen to start writing poetry, although his dad was not that concerned with poetry or writing. Owen’s mother was also a very religious woman, so he was raised with a strong evangelical connection (Hibberd 443). Her influence lead to his working and learning under an evangelical vicar after he failed to get into London University on a scholarship (“Dulce et Decorum Est” 109). Even with his evangelical upbringing, Owen’s earliest poems were about nature (Hibberd 443). Owen was interested in literature, but he was also very interested in science, whether it was plants or the stars (Hibberd 443). This lead to an internal conflict between religion on one hand and science and poetry on the other. He became so confused and consumed by the issue that he left the vicar that he worked under and returned home, where he became very sick (Hibberd 445). By the time Owen recovered, he needed to get a new

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