Wilfred Owen Uses Language And Poetic Devices

What is Wilfred Owen’s attitude towards Worlds War 1 and how is this shown through his poetry?

There are several image groups used in this poem, two of which I will be reviewing. The first image group is “Sleep or Dreams”. Owen often refers to many subconscious states like the afore mentioned one, the reason why he uses these references so frequently is that war is made apparent to the reader as being a subconscious state as the realities often seem to be too hard to except, an example which backs up my opinion is: “Men marched asleep”. The poet often refers to dreams. I believe part of the reason for this is that by dreaming you are escaping from the physical reality and surroundings and due to the horror and constant threat of death the soldiers would constantly be dreaming of home and their loved ones. However,

How does Owen’s portrayal of the relationship between youth and war move us to a deeper understanding of suffering?

Wilfred Owen’s poetry is shaped by an intense focus on extraordinary human experiences. In at least 2 poems set for study, explore Owen’s portrayal of suffering and pity.

“Gently its touch woke him once” the sun is personified as a human and gently touches the man, waking him from sleep however the warmth and the “kindness” of the sun is incompetent to fully wake the deceased, hence, the act of reviving their comrade is futile because of war’s inevitable destructiveness. The speaker starts to question, “At home, whispering of fields half-sown. Always it woke him, even in France”. A nostalgic reference to ‘Home’ with connotations of safety and peace, the sun at home always woke him up but this time was different. Owen depicts the unfortunate young soldier as “fields half-sown” implying that he is too young to die. Owen exhibit the savagery of war depriving the lives of million young ones, leaving them futile and damaged.

Explain how particular features of at least two of Wilfred Owen's poems set for study interact to affect your response to them.

Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively conveys his perspectives on human conflict through his experiences during The Great War. Poems such as ‘Futility’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ portray these perceptions through the use of poetic techniques, emphasising such conflicts involving himself, other people and nature. These themes are examined in extreme detail, attempting to shape meaning in relation to Owen’s first-hand encounters whilst fighting on the battlefield.

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Wilfred Owen can be considered as one of the finest war poets of all times. His war poems, a collection of works composed between January 1917, when he was first sent to the Western Front, and November 1918, when he was killed in action, use a variety of poetic techniques to allow the reader to empathise with his world, situation, emotions and thoughts. The sonnet form, para-rhymes, ironic titles, voice, and various imagery used by Owen grasp the prominent central idea of the complete futility of war as well as explore underlying themes such as the massive waste of young lives, the horrors of war, the hopelessness of war and the loss of religion. These can be seen in the three poems, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and

Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, he unmasks the harsh tragedy of war through the events he experienced. His poems indulge and grasp readers to feel the pain of his words and develop some idea on the tragedy during the war. Tragedy was a common feature during the war, as innocent boys and men had their lives taken away from them in a gunshot. The sad truth of the war that most of the people who experienced and lived during the tragic time, still bare the horrifying images that still live with them now. Owen’s poems give the reader insight to this pain, and help unmask the tragedy of war.

The initial bout of sympathy is created in the first stanza, “He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark.” The word “wheeled” is quite symbolic as it symbolizes that the subject is unable to move independently. He is reliant on others to move him around. Owen’s use of “he” rather than a specific name implies that this “he” is potentially one of many. This expresses how misery was common amongst other soldiers and how the horrors of war could affect anyone, not just the subject of the poem. Furthermore, in the line “and shivered in his ghastly suit of grey.” Wilfred’s use of the words “ghastly suit of grey” depicts a suit of death which is relatable to depression and misery. This gloom is most likely due to the fact that the soldier is so dependent on others and the emotional damage the war has inflicted upon him. The last stanza of the poem creates an enormous sense of pity for the secluded life that the soldier now has to tolerate because of his heroics as seen in “now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes”. This sympathy and pity towards the subject shows how horrifying the upshot of the war

Owen also uses language of terror and powerlessness for the speaker as the poem progresses. Describing the soldier the speaker has seen fail to attach his gas mask, he says, “I saw him drowning” (14). He dreams of this encounter repeatedly, “[in] all my dreams, before my helpless sight/ He plunges at me” (15-16). In his dreams, he is not only powerless to aid this man, but

War is not heroic. War is sickness, struggle, and death. This is the message that poet and World War I soldier Wilfred Owen wanted to instill in his people back home. Those back home talked of glory and national pride and rooted for their soldiers, however, they were unaware of the horrors these soldiers witnessed and experienced. The soldiers and their people back home were not only separated by distance but by mental barriers, which Owen showcases in his poetry. Owen’s use of personification in “Anthem for Doomed Youth” degrades the soldiers to objects to show how the war dehumanized them to intentionally create a disconnect between the audience and the soldiers.

    Through vivid imagery and compelling metaphors "Dulce et Decorum Est" gives the reader the exact feeling the author wanted. The poem is an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen and makes great use of these devices. This poem is very effective because of its excellent manipulation of the mechanical and emotional parts of poetry. Owen's use of exact diction and vivid figurative language emphasizes his point, showing that war is terrible and devastating. Furthermore, the utilization of extremely graphic imagery adds even more to his argument. Through the effective use of all three of these tools, this poem conveys a strong meaning and persuasive argument.

How does Wilfred Owen use language and poetic devices to create impact on the reader?