Another effective technique Owen considers is his communication with the reader. He uses pronouns like “we” and “our” to include the reader in the witnessing of exhausted marching troops, as well as the suffering and deaths caused by the poisonous gases. By addressing the reader, he separates those who have experienced the war with those who have not, and in doing this, adds validity of a testimonial giving the gruesome imagery added impact. He later addresses the reader as “my friend,” after describing the comrade’s death, as if to pressure his audience into seeing things through his eyes. Immediately after, the barbaric slaughter scene is graphically described to present an indisputable picture of horror to people who still have doubts on the issue of whether sacrifice is acceptable, and then attacks those who would potentially influence the innocent and acknowledge glory in the death of others.
Wilfred Owen also uses many poetic devices like hyperboles, alliteration, punctuation, metaphors, and similes to convey ‘the pity of war.’ The first two words he uses to describe the soldiers are, “bent double.” This hyperbole conveys the feelings of exhaustion experienced by the soldiers, probably from carrying heavy packs or experiencing sleepless nights in the trenches. It could also be interpreted as a state of disillusionment doubted with purgatorial numbness, and suggests that the soldiers want to be at two places at once – at home, but helping their country battle. Next, he uses alliteration to emphasize certain verbs, which adds to the insistent tone of the poem, allowing the reader to remember the disheartening descriptions better, like “Knock-kneed”, and “watch the white eyes writhing.” He also uses repetition to emphasize certain feelings. “All went lame, all blind,” the word “all” stresses on the sense of hopelessness, as the soldiers have lost their senses. The author then uses punctuation and capital letters to create an impression of panic and importance, “Gas! Gas! Quick boys!” and “the old Lie.”
Another metaphor he uses is in the second stanza where he refers to the green sea as a poison gas. “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning,” “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,” “plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” This metaphor is extremely effective as he connects his war experience with other aspects of human suffering, making it easier for those who have never experienced war, to recognize the same agony. For example, the choking man is sympathized by readers, as Owen describes the same feeling that occurs when submerged under water with water taken into lungs. Owen reinforces his metaphor by rhyming “drowning” with itself, and highlights on the soldier’s impotence.
Next, Wilfred Owen uses a number of similes to support his theme and creates contrast through the comparison of the soldier’s mental and physical status. He compares the struggling soldiers, with the child-like soldiers, having “innocent tongues,” and goes on to tell us that the “old Lie” is told to and believed by “children ardent for some desperate glory.” Owen wants us to feel enraged by the misrepresentation being expressed to the public, which takes away the “innocence” of the soldier, brainwashing them into sacrificing their lives into extreme conditions. Owen’s use of the hyphen in the line, “Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -“ creates a dramatic pause and places emphasis on the defined boundary between his example and the old Lie.
Another simile to be noted is, “his hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin.” This is rather ironic as the devil is thought of to be the most sinful being imaginable. Relating this to the theme, Owen is implying that the soldier is also regretfully questioning everything that has gotten him to where he is – the story of the glories of war, the nobility of patriotism, and the “sweetness” that comes with dying for one’s country. The devil is also associated with evil and the torturous place of hell, so by mentioning his presence, the author implies that the war was a living hell that aroused fear, and that people were hesitant to catch his face, reluctant to remember him, despite the dishonest way he too was lured into the war.
Owen’s use of similes continues to prove its effectiveness in the line, “bitter as the cud.” Chewing cud involves a cow re-chewing the regurgitated grass to extract more nutrients. This simile can be interpreted in several ways. First of all, the author could be referring the soldier to the cow as to emphasize that soldiers were treated like animals and sent to be slaughtered like helpless animals. This point is supported further by the phrase, “the wagon we flung him in,” as if the human body was treated like nothing more than an animal carcass. Or, the reader could interpret this cud as “re-tasting,” a metaphor of the unpleasant memories that the author and survivors of this war will always have and remember, “incurable sores on innocent tongues.” Owen might also have been trying to place emphasis on the soldier’s corrupted lungs due to the green poisonous gas, the gas burning the flesh as it tries to escape the body – the bitterness of war.
Wilfred Owen’s crafty structure also highlights the theme in several ways. Written in a conversational style with hardly any rhythm, and many punctuation marks in no particular pattern, the poem reflects the fumbling, stumbling, tired men, providing a mysterious tone filled with anticipation, leaving the next line to be unpredictable. However, what may seem like a jumbled sequence, eventually unfolds into more patterns and complexities. There is a rhyme scheme following an ABAB CDCD, etc. pattern that is consistent throughout the poem, “…ecstacy of fumbling”, “…just in time”, “out and stumbling”, “in fire or lime.” However, the meter that starts out in iambic pentameter during the first stanza, with each line containing 10 syllables soon changes to become reflective of the emotions and atmosphere of the presented scene. The rhythm begins to break in the last line of the first stanza, where “Of gas-shells dropping softly behind,” only has 9 syllables instead of ten. This inconsistency stands out, which stimulates the reader’s attention, developing curiosity in the sudden change and causing anticipation in the climactic scene to come. Rhythm is further broken up as the level of suspense rises in the second stanza when one soldier fails to put his gas mask on in time. “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,” this pronounced break of 11 syllables in the metric structure acts to convey a sense of panic, helplessness, and chaos. In the last line, Owen abandons the iambic pentameter again, more so here than he does anywhere else. It’s almost as though he gives up, and loses all hope. This brings prepotency to the last line – the satiation that evolves from recalling the haunting scene of war.
Through burning, and drowning, Owen creates terrifying deaths, which are neither glorious nor noble, and communicates to the reader that war is brutal and far from “sweet and fitting.” Owen further exposes this theme by incorporating contrast in these depicted ideals of soldiers, verses the reality of what they experience behind the facade of patriotic marching using imagery. He also uses many other literary devices, like alliteration, hyperboles, and punctuation to capture his depiction of the trepidations that come with war. The direct diction displayed in his imagery, similes, and metaphors, also prove essential devices as Owen successfully negates the idea of “Dulce et docrum est, Pro patria mori,” leaving the reader shocked, and more able to appreciate the irony between the truth of what happens in the trenches and the Lie that is being circulated back home.
