Essay about Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen’s poetry was aimed to raise awareness of the harsh reality of war. Through his poetry he wanted to show people that there is nothing good about war, it is not an exciting adventure but rather just a waste of life.

Through his own experiences on the front line he wanted to teach his audience the truth about war. In his poems “Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled” he talks about waste of young lives at war, physical and emotional pain and suffering people who enter the war go through, as well as soldiers not receiving proper funeral ceremonies they deserve.The poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth” focuses on loss of young lives and the fact that they don’t receive proper funeral rites they deserve. The title itself explores the idea of young lives being in danger. The words “Anthem” “Doomed” and “Youth” are juxtaposed to highlight the brutality of war.

The word “Youth” normally depicts the happiness of youth but it is placed next to word “Doomed” meaning they are bound for bad destiny. The title is very ironic as Anthems are normally associated with celebrations, but the war and loss of soldiers’ lives is anything but a celebration.Wilfred Owen uses simile effectively in line 1 to show harsh death of soldiers at war. “What passing bells for these who die as cattle”.

Here he compares soldiers to cattle. They die in large numbers in pain and agony. He uses alliteration in stanza 1 “stuttering, rifles, rapid, rattle” to convey the sounds of destructive weapons opposed to bells and prayers at a funeral. This shows the responder the lack of burial rites at war in comparison to that at home. There is no recognition of death. Soldiers death is very insignificant at war, this can be seen in stanza 1 “no prayers no bells”.

Rhetorical question in stanza 2 “what candles may be held to speed them all” emphasises the fact that there is so many people dying there is no time for funeral ceremonies and grieving, as they are in battle not at home. Onomatopoeia is effective in representing the harsh conditions of war as the soldiers had to endure the “shrill” sounds of “wailing shells”. Wilfred Owens use of words “boys” and “girls” in the stanza 2 emphasise the idea of loss of youth at war. The poem finishes with “drawing down of blinds” which is a symbol for death.

Death is a big part of war and is also a big part of Wilfred Owens poetry, as he wants to show the audience that this is what war is really all abou The poem Disabled is about a young man who returned from war injured and his whole life has been affected forever due to this injury. The poem shows that even ones that return from war, are still faced with physical and emotional suffering and that you do not return from war a hero. The main focus of Wilfred Owen in this poem was loss and waste. The title itself “Disabled” gives a sense of loss and inability.This is also emphasised in the first line “wheel chair” the man has been left injured and with a disability due to war.

Use of words “dark” and “grey” evoke a sense of loneliness, darkness and isolation. The war has left the young man feeling this way. This shows that war does not leave you with nothing but negative effects. In stanza 1 alliterative sounds of “play and pleasure after day” highlights what is now lost to him, it reminds him of his past and how bleak his future is. Reference to “hymn” and “mothering” serve to emphasise his helpless state physically and emotionally separated from his peers.

In stanza 2 first few lines are reflection to his past. Use of visual imagery “Town used to swing so gay” serves to show the fun and how he used to enjoy life, but now the ability to do this has been taken away from him. Use of past tense clearly emphasises that it is all in the past. Last few lines in stanza 2reflect his current situation which is anything but good. “All of them touch him like some queer disease”. He is being compared to a disease in this line.

Use of simile here serves to show that people are now disgusted and shun by him, he is treated and looked upon differently due to his disability. For he was younger than his youth last year” “now he is old” stanza 3. Youth and innocence have been lost alongside his once sound body. Now he will never again be able to work love or live independently.

This is made clear by the phrase “his back will never brace”. In stanza 4 there is a sense of regret that he joined because he never thought about the risks of war. “Smiling they wrote his lie aged nineteen years” this line is good indication that he is really young and joined for silly and childish reasons”.That sense of regret is even bigger when “women eyes” slide from him to those men who remain “whole”. Girls don’t care about him anymore. He feels like his worth nothing.

The poem finishes with a question “Why don’t they come and put him into bed? ”. It shows that people have forgotten about him, his life is not worth living anymore as he has nothing to look forward to. Therefore the reality of war is harsh. There is nothing good about war and it leaves you scared for the rest of your life. As seen in Wilfred Owens poems “Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled”.