Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
These two lines quickly change the atmosphere. The presence of snow shows that it's suddenly winter, in cold contrast to the warmth of the sun in the first three lines. The always and the even in line 4, show that the boy has been fighting for a while, had experience warfare in France and even through other tough situations had survived. Line 5 also shows the true harshness of the situation.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
These two lines are still hopeful that the boy can be roused. It is almost as if the boy is merely sleeping, and not dead at all. The person moving the body (or Wilfred Owen) has reverted to childish thinking, and simple nature, and reason that the kind old sun will know what to do.
Think how it wakes the seeds,-
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
The waking of the seeds links to life, and the creation of life, and the bringing back of life. Just like the sun waking the body. Line 9 shows how extremely powerful the sun is, and of the complicated and amazingly complex achievement of waking the earth. The cold star has conetations of a dead body, needing the help of others to be revived.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved, -still warm, -too hard to stir?
The dear achieved limbs point out all the sacrifices, love and experiences it has taken for the boy to grow to the age he is now. It shows how important and how expensive life is. The words still warm reveal that the boy has just died, which makes the death even worse. These lines show that the sun, which has already achieved a hugely complex task, should be able to wake the body. By making it a question, it seems desperate and pleeding.
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
The clay grew tall refers to the clay as the human that has grown up and reached maturity. This line is asking what the purpose of this useless death is.
O what made fatous sunbeams toil
to break earth's sleep at all?
These two lines are filled with bitterness. The disallusion that the body might wake, has finally fallen. This is emphasised by the complete change in the image of the sun. The sun and its toils are sompletely and utterly useless. What use is the sun if it can't bring back life? Why did it even bother to wake the earth at all, if this is what was going to happen? Again these lines are a question, which makes the poem pleading and simply asking WHY
"ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH" by Wilfred Owen
The redrafting of this poem with the help and encouragement of Siegfried Sassoon, whom Owen met while convalescing in Edinburgh’s Craiglockhart Hospital in August 1917, marked a turning point in Owen’s life as a poet. A remarkable writing period was just beginning. In sonnet form, ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH is an elegy, a lament for the dead, a judgement on Owen’s experience of war rather than an account of the experience itself. Doomed youth is right. These were young men, some very young.
Lines 1-8 (the octet) contain a catalogue of the sounds of war, the weapons of destruction – guns, rifles, shells – linked, ironically, to religious imagery, until in line 8 we switch from the fighting front to Britain’s "sad shires" where loved ones mourn. The tone now drops from bitter passion to rueful contemplation, the mood sombre, the pace slower, until by line 14 the poem quietly closes with "the drawing down of blinds".
In this octet the devilish clamour of trench warfare is carefully set against the subdued atmosphere of church. These religious images: passing bells, orisons (prayers), voice of mourning, choirs, candles, holy glimmers, symbolise the sanctity of life – and death – while suggesting also the inadequacy, the futility, even meaninglessness, of organised religion measured against such a cataclysm as war. To "patter out" is to intone mindlessly, an irrelevance. "Hasty" orisons are an irreverence. Prayers, bells, mockeries only. Despite Owen’s orthodox Christian upbringing, how his faith actually developed during the last years is far from clear, and it is hard not to think that he was not remembering in this poem those members of the clergy, and they were many, who were preaching not the gospel of peace but of war.
Right at the start the simile "die as cattle" jolts us with its image of the slaughterhouse and the idea of men being treated as less than human. "Anger of the guns" (line 2): were the men behind the guns angry? Probably not. Hatred of the enemy was more common among civilians than the troops. Onomatopoeia, alliteration and personification come together in line 3 in a brilliant sound image.
The juxtaposition of "choirs" and "wailing shells" is a startling metaphor, God’s world and the Devil’s both as one; after which line 8 leads into the sestet with the contrasted, muted sound of the Last Post.
Religious images and allusions dominate lines 9-14. Forget about altar boys and candle bearers, says Owen. These have nothing to do with the real rites. Look in their eyes and in the ashen faces of their womenfolk to learn the truth about war.
In line 12, "pallor" – "pall" (paleness-coffin cloth) is almost an example of Owen’s use of pararhyme (half rhyme), a poetic device which may give a downbeat, lowering effect or creates an impression of solemnity. "Flowers" (line 13) suggest beauty but also sadness, again a word that runs counter to the pandemonium of the first eight lines.
Aptly, dusk is falling in the last line and speaks of finality. The dusk is slow, for that is how time passes for those who mourn, and with the drawing down of blinds and the attendant sadness we may think of a house in Shrewsbury’s Monkmoor Road where at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month a telegram was delivered that informed Wilfred Owen’s parents of his death just a week earlier.
Module B – Close Study of Text
Poetry – Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen's poetry is a prescribed text in Standard English Module B Close Study of Text. You are expected "to engage in a detailed analysis" of the text and consider "how the ideas, forms and language interact within the text and may affect those responding to it". This means that you need to examine each prescribed poem carefully considering how the composer (poet) uses language forms, features and structures of a poem to shape the meaning. You also need to consider how these characteristics "establish the text's distinctive qualities". Essentially, you are reflecting on how Owen uses both the structure of his poems as well as language techniques to convey his ideas.
The examiners will expect you to present your personal response to the poems and it is important to prepare carefully each of the prescribed poems as the exam question could specify the discussion of particular poems. The prescribed poems are: Anthem for Doomed Youth; Dulce et Decorum Est; Miners; Futility; Spring Offensive and The Send–Off.
Owen, himself experienced the horror of World War One. Although his poetry uses the context of this war, his poetry has universality as it attempts to confront the reader about the experience of war. He is outraged by the senseless loss of life as well as the dehumanising effects of war.
In Anthem for Doomed Youth, Owen contrasts the dignity of a funeral with the barbarity of the battlefront. "Anthem" refers to a hymn of praise, devotion or patriotism and Owen uses the title ironically to challenge what acknowledgement or reverence is accorded to the young soldiers. The rhetorical questions are used in the poem to highlight the indignity of the deaths. The personification and alliteration of weaponry further emphasises the cruelty of their deaths: "the monstrous anger of the guns..the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle".
Owen sustains the contrast by referring to "hasty orisons" and choirs. Yet these choirs are not the solemn voices associated with the singing of hymns rather they are personified to be "The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells".
The poem is a sonnet and in the first octet (8lines), Owen captures the noise and violence of the war through his use of sound devices such as alliteration and onomatopoeia.
The second stanza or sestet (6lines) moves to the homefront where the suffering and grief of the soldiers' loved ones is conveyed. The tension of the first stanza has been replaced by a calmer more reflective mood yet the pathos of the situation is clear. Imagery associated with light captures the poignancy of their deaths "not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes." Further references to funerals are used "the pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall".
Finally the concluding couplet focuses on the anguish and process of grief which will be sustained by their families.
Although "Miners" initially is about the deaths of miners, it discusses the deaths of soldiers. Both are presented as groups who are victims of society's indifference. The form is a first person narrative, which opens with the speaker's reverie initiated by the "whispering in the hearth" and "a sigh in the coal". The personification of the fire and the coals leads to a reflection on the creation of the coals. The alliteration of "f" in the second stanza "ferns"; "frond–forests" and assonance of "before fawns" capture the comparative beauty and serenity of the world at that prehistoric time. In contrast, the brutality and harshness of the world of the speaker is conveyed with the alliteration of "s" in "show steam–phantoms simmer".
This then leads to a reflection on the men who mined the coal. The personified coal relates the suffering of the miners with the alliterative "wry sleep" and "men writhing for air". Their victimhood is captured in the metaphor of the cinders being their bones. The imaginative link is then made to "some who worked dark pits of war". Trench warfare is likened to mining. Death and peace are personified ironically contrasting with the dead soldiers. The transition to "rooms of amber; sets the scene of complacency of those who will quickly forget that they are "well–cheered by our lives' ember".
Words associated with suffering and anguish such as the onomatopoeic "groaned" contrasts ironically with the rhyming "crooned" which demonstrates the glib acknowledgement given to those who have died. The poem concludes with the adamant, poignant tone "But they will not dream of us poor lads lost in the ground".
With its imagery and use of enjambment, the poem's horrifying reflection on death conveys the themes of sacrifice and suffering which occurs in the context of an indifferent society.
Irony and contrast are also used in "Spring Offensive". The beauty of spring is contrasted with the horror and ugliness of war. The opening stanzas present an atmosphere which is beautiful yet ominous with a "stark blank sky". The metaphor and simile "the summer oozed into their veins like an injected drug for their bodies' pains" captures an intoxicating yet potentially dangerous setting.
The personification of the buttercups and brambles who attempt to restrain them "like sorrowing hands" heightens the tragedy of the imminent battle. Their connection to nature is confirmed with the simile "they breathe like trees unstirred".
The repetition of "no" reinforces the ironic silence prior to the battle, which relies on surprise. Similar to "Futility", the sun is personified highlighting that warfare is contrary to nature. The rhythm changes to a rapid pace as the violence of the battle is presented. Religious imagery associated with communion and spilling of blood further emphasises the notion of innocent sacrifice. Reference to hell "hell's upsurge" and "out–fiending all its fiends and flames with superman inhumanities" links to the notion of the battlefield being hell as well as death and the continuing "hell" lived by the survivors who struggle with their guilt of surviving. The concluding rhetorical question powerfully shows their sustained suffering. Further it highlights the unnaturalness of warfare by showing nature at first hostile and then damaged and brutalised by warfare "chasmed and steepened sheer to infinite space".
In preparing for the HSC, it is important to note that you can be asked to respond using a variety of forms not just an essay. Thus you need to ensure you have an understanding of how to write a speech, interview, feature article and so on, where you need to consider audience, purpose and context. It is also essential that you have prepared carefully all poems set for study as the exam could specify that you refer to a specific prescribed poem. You also need to remember that the language techniques are the means by which the poet conveys his ideas. Therefore you need to consider the purpose or effect of each technique.
A sample essay question could be as follows: "Owen’s poetry is memorable for its passionate denunciation of war using powerful language." Discuss referring to Anthem for Doomed Youth and one other prescribed poem. There are a number of key terms here which need to be defined. What is meant by "passionate denunciation" and "powerful language"? The question focuses attention on the way Owen is able to effectively convey his outrage at the tragic loss of life of the young men who will not be accorded the dignity of a funeral whilst their loved ones continue to mourn their futile deaths. Owen’s achieves his purpose through his controlled use of poetic techniques and word choice.
In your answer you would need to reflect on the way Owen uses irony (e.g. reference to ‘anthem’); contrast (references to the atmosphere on the battlefield and on the home front; the contrasting use of imagery associated with funerals); sound devices
( e.g. onomatopoeia ‘rapid rattle’, ‘shrill’ and wailing’; assonance ‘rapid’, ‘patter’); rhetorical questions and imagery (e.g. personification ‘monstrous anger of the guns’ and ‘stuttering rifles’).
An imaginative recreation type task could be as follows: You have been asked to present a speech to a group of students studying World War One and you are using Wilfred Owen’s poetry to give them an insight into conditions on the battlefront. Refer to Spring Offensive and one other prescribed poem. This question needs to be structured as a speech with the purpose of informing a teenage audience you already have some knowledge of World War One. Consider how you might use rhetorical questions keeping a sense of your audience. Language use in a speech also needs to be adhered to using colloquial language. You must still respond to the question using the poems specifically and in some detail. Remember you should use descriptive language, repetition, simple facts which all help to keep your audience interested.
Spring Offensive is based on Owen’s own experience of the "Spring Offensive’ which occurred in April 1917. The poem highlight the unnaturalness of war by referring to the beauty of the landscape prior to the battle as well as the ‘earth’s’ attempt to restrain the soldiers. The horror of the carnage is demonstrated with the use of imagery associated with the rite of communion. Further the guilt of survival is shown with the allusions to hell.
You need to prepare all poems carefully for this question ensuring a thorough knowledge of essay writing and other text types.
Karen McEwen
English Co-ordinator
Masada College
1558 words
