Wilfred Owen : Futility
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, one of the many Great War poets during World War I, was born on March 18 at Osweshy, Shropshire, on the Welsh border. Son of Tom and Susan Owen, who were Welsh ancestry, Wilfred was the eldest of four sons. His education began at the Birkenhead Institute, and then continued at the Technical School in Shrewsbury when the family was forced to move there in 1906 after his father was appointed Assistant Superintendent for the Western Region of the railways. Given his low-middle-class upbringing, at a young age Wilfred showed neither love, nor the ability to write poetry. He found little interest in cotemporary poems and other sorts of literature. After failing to be admitted to the University of London, Wilfred decided to become a clergyman. In 1911, he moved to Dunsden and was taught by the local Vicar, for unpaid work in the parish, an act Wilfred did to please his extremely religious mother. During that time, he created a strong allegiance to literature. After some time, Wilfred started to become increasingly disapproving of the role of the church in society, and sympathetic to the plight of the poor, so he decided to leave the vicarage for home. In the autumn of 1913, Wilfred became an English teacher at the Berlitz School in Bordeaux, France. During his stay in France, Wilfred became friend with Laurent Tailhade, a French poet, and had access to a great amount of French Literature.
In 1915, Wilfred's parents pressured him to settle into a career, but by this time, he had decided to become a poet. However, he needed money to support himself and after considering several diverse possibilities, Owen made a difficult decision and enlisted himself into the army to fight in World War I. Owen was convinced that the war would provide material for his poetry. Owen arrived London in September 1915 and was enlisted as a cadet in the Artist's Rifles in October. He trained for most of 1916, and during that time he developed an increasing knowledge of modern poetry. He entered the war in January 1917 and fought as an officer in the Battle of the Somme but was hospitalized for shell shock that May. In the Craiglockhaut War hospital he met Captain Siegfried Sassoon, a famous poet and novelist whose grim antiwar works were in harmony with Owen's concerns. Under Sassoon's care and tutelage, Owen began producing the best work of his short career; his poems were suffused with the horror of battle, and yet finely structured and innovative. In October 1917, Owen was discharged from the hospital, and was sent to a reserve battalion in Scarborough. In March 1918, while training in preparation for the front, Owen was in a camp at Ripon, where he had his own cottage where he could work undisturbed. It was at Ripon that many of his great poems, including Futility, were written. He died one year after returning to battle and one week before the war ended in 1918. Owen was awarded the Military Cross for serving in the war with distinction.
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, one of the many Great War poets during World War I, was born on March 18 at Osweshy, Shropshire, on the Welsh border. Son of Tom and Susan Owen, who were Welsh ancestry, Wilfred was the eldest of four sons. His education began at the Birkenhead Institute, and then continued at the Technical School in Shrewsbury when the family was forced to move there in 1906 after his father was appointed Assistant Superintendent for the Western Region of the railways. Given his low-middle-class upbringing, at a young age Wilfred showed neither love, nor the ability to write poetry. He found little interest in cotemporary poems and other sorts of literature. After failing to be admitted to the University of London, Wilfred decided to become a clergyman. In 1911, he moved to Dunsden and was taught by the local Vicar, for unpaid work in the parish, an act Wilfred did to please his extremely religious mother. During that time, he created a strong allegiance to literature. After some time, Wilfred started to become increasingly disapproving of the role of the church in society, and sympathetic to the plight of the poor, so he decided to leave the vicarage for home. In the autumn of 1913, Wilfred became an English teacher at the Berlitz School in Bordeaux, France. During his stay in France, Wilfred became friend with Laurent Tailhade, a French poet, and had access to a great amount of French Literature.
In 1915, Wilfred's parents pressured him to settle into a career, but by this time, he had decided to become a poet. However, he needed money to support himself and after considering several diverse possibilities, Owen made a difficult decision and enlisted himself into the army to fight in World War I. Owen was convinced that the war would provide material for his poetry. Owen arrived London in September 1915 and was enlisted as a cadet in the Artist's Rifles in October. He trained for most of 1916, and during that time he developed an increasing knowledge of modern poetry. He entered the war in January 1917 and fought as an officer in the Battle of the Somme but was hospitalized for shell shock that May. In the Craiglockhaut War hospital he met Captain Siegfried Sassoon, a famous poet and novelist whose grim antiwar works were in harmony with Owen's concerns. Under Sassoon's care and tutelage, Owen began producing the best work of his short career; his poems were suffused with the horror of battle, and yet finely structured and innovative. In October 1917, Owen was discharged from the hospital, and was sent to a reserve battalion in Scarborough. In March 1918, while training in preparation for the front, Owen was in a camp at Ripon, where he had his own cottage where he could work undisturbed. It was at Ripon that many of his great poems, including Futility, were written. He died one year after returning to battle and one week before the war ended in 1918. Owen was awarded the Military Cross for serving in the war with distinction.
