The Poetry and Context of Wilfred Owen in World War One
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Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous war poets. He was born in 1893 and died in
1918, just one week from the end of World War One. His poetry is characterised by
powerful descriptions of the conditions faced by soldiers in the trenches.
W
o
r
l
d
W
a
r
O
n
e
World War One took place between 1914 and 1918 and is remembered particularly for
trench warfare and the use of gas. Owing to the technological innovations in use during
it, the war is often referred to as the first modern war.
T
h
e
W
a
r
P
o
e
t
s
Poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Ivor Gurney
have a strong association with World War One. As a group, their poems are often
violent and realistic, challenging earlier poetry which communicated a pro-war
message. The first-hand experience of war is arguably one reason why there is such a
shift in the attitude of poets towards war.
C
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n
t
e
x
t
The war in brief:
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e
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a
r
i
n
b
r
i
e
f
1
9
1
4
Germany invades Belgium.
Britain declares war on Germany.
Japan joins the Allied forces: Ottoman Empire soon joins the Central Powers.
War spreads to the seas.
1
9
1
5
Women take up men's jobs.
Stalemate continues on the Western Front.
The
Lusitania
passenger liner is sunk, with 1,200 lives lost.
London attacked from the air by German Zeppelins.
1
9
1
6
Conscription for men aged between 18 and 41.
A million casualties in ten months: Germany aims to 'bleed France white'.
At sea the Battle of Jutland takes place.
Armed uprisings in Dublin: the Irish Republic is proclaimed.
1
9
1
7
German Army retreats to the Hindenburg Line.
United States joins the war and assists the Allies.
Tank, submarine and gas warfare intensifies.
Royal family change their surname to Windsor to appear more British.
1
9
1
8
Germany launches major offensive on the Western Front.
Allies launch successful counter-offensives at the Marne and Amiens.
Armistice signed on November 11, ending the war at 11am.
In Britain, a coalition government is elected and women over 30 succeed in gaining the vote.
W
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1
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His war sonnets were written in the first
flush of patriotism and enthusiasm as a
generation unused to war rushed to
defend king and country.
•
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made
aware….
(from war sonnets- sonnet V. the soldier)
Rupert Brook
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England, in this great fight to
which you go
Because, where Honour calls
you, go you must,
Be glad, whatever comes, at
least to know
You have your quarrel just.
Owen Seaman
B
a
c
k
g
r
o
u
n
d
Since ancient times it has been considered
heroic to die in war.
Homer’s epic poem The Illiad celebrates,
among other things,
the nobility of dying on the
battlefield.
This view continued well into the 19th Century
(and even the 20th Century), and Tennyson’s
popular poem ‘
The Charge of the Light
Brigade
’ gives us an idea of how poets and
people in general thought about
the “
valour
” of
fighting and dying for one’s country:
W
a
r
P
o
e
t
s
Poets such as Sassoon and Owen changed all
that with their efforts to give us an accurate
representation of
trench warfare
.
Wilfred Owen fought in some of the major
battles of World War I and the reality and
horror of war shocked him.
In the face of the desperate suffering he saw
around him, it was no longer possible to
pretend warfare was adventurous and heroic.
W
i
l
f
r
e
d
O
w
e
n
From the age of nineteen Owen wanted to be a poet and immersed himself in poetry, being especially
impressed by Keats and Shelley. He wrote almost no poetry of importance until he saw action in
France in 1917.
From 1913 to 1915 he worked as a language tutor in France.
He felt pressured by the propaganda to become a soldier and volunteered on 21st October 1915. He
spent the last day of 1916 in a tent in France joining the Second Manchesters. He was full of boyish
high spirits at being a soldier.
Within a week he had been transported to the front line in a cattle wagon and was "sleeping" 70 or 80
yards from a heavy gun which fired every minute or so. He was soon wading miles along trenches two
feet deep in water. Within a few days he was experiencing gas attacks and was horrified by the stench
of the rotting dead; his sentry was blinded, his company then slept out in deep snow and intense frost
till the end of January. That month was a profound shock for him: he now understood the meaning of
war. "The people of England needn't hope. They must agitate," he wrote home.
He escaped bullets until the last week of the war, but he saw a good deal of front-line action: he was
blown up, concussed and suffered shell-shock.
He was sent back to the trenches in September, 1918 and in October won the Military Cross by
seizing a German machine-gun and using it to kill a number of Germans.
On 4th November he was shot and killed near the village of Ors. The news of his death reached his
parents home as the Armistice bells were ringing on 11 November.
D
u
l
c
e
e
t
D
e
c
o
r
u
m
e
s
t
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed
through sludge,
Till on the
haunting flares
we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all
blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five Nines that dropped
behind.
D
u
l
c
e
e
t
D
e
c
o
r
u
m
e
s
t
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of
fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and
stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.
Dim, through the misty panes and thick
green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking,
drowning.
D
u
l
c
e
e
t
D
e
c
o
r
u
m
e
s
t
If in some smothering dreams you too could
pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes
writhing
in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria
mori.
W
i
l
f
r
e
d
O
w
e
n
Title of the poem comes from
Horace’s
Odes (“Dulce et
decorum est pro patria mori”)
.
Loose translation: “It is sweet
and proper to die for one’s
country”
Drafts of the poem were
dedicated to the propaganda
poet Jessie Pope, but this
dedication was removed from
the published copy.
Title is ironic – it’s intended
meaning is the opposite of
the literal. The aim is to shock
the audience. The use of
Latin reflects the classical
education of the wealthier
classes at the time and
indicates that the audience
Owen is writing for are well-
educated Brits supporting the
war in Europe.
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, MC (March 18, 1893 –
November 4, 1918) - British poet and soldier,
regarded by many as the leading poet of the First
World War. He was influenced by his friend Siegfried
Sassoon and sat in stark contrast to both the public
perception of war at the time, and to the confidently
patriotic verse written earlier by war poets such as
Rupert Brooke. Died one week before the armistice.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Caesura, a pause created
for emphasis
Image of men walking
beneath the flares used
to light the battlefield
Powerful verb (“cursed”)
– we have an image of
men at breaking point
trudging in the mud
Simile – compares men to ugly old women
(“hags”) in their coughing – reader must remind
themselves that these are in fact young men.
What kind of
rest?
Powerful simile – no longer
strong, young men.
Starched uniforms have
become rags.
“Shod” – term
used for horse
shoes. Men
barely human
with bloodied
feet. Image
supported by
the word “lame”,
also used for
horses
War does sound like Wagner, it is “tired”. The men
are strangely immune to the sound. The crashed of
shells is reduced to “tired, outstripped Five-Nines”.
Stanza ends with a slow rhythm, reflecting the tiredness of the men.
Persona
introduced –
one of the
men.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the
misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning
.
Sudden shift. Sudden
urgency.
Interesting diction – “ecstasy”
gives image of uncontrolled
frantic fumbling
Imagery of the
man’s pain as
he inhales the
gas.
The simile of the “green sea”, evokes drowning
imagery – the effects of chlorine gas (mustard gas)
on the lungs created the appearance of drowning
as the lungs became blistered.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
Repetition of drowning
words – “plunges”,
“guttering, choking,
drowning”.
Lines establish that the
persona is reflecting on
these events some time
after they happened.
Helplessness lies at the
heart of the persona’s
anxiety.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie:
Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Strong sound
imagery
Strong visual
imagery.
Body is
dehumanised.
“Flung” in like a
carcass. War’s true
horror.
Direct address to the reader – who is
the reader? Original manuscript said
Jessie Pope, but this was deleted.
Why?
Continuation on idea of
nightmares from last stanza
Repetition of “if” –
creates an if/then
pattern in the
stanza.
Who is “my friend”
– sardonic.
This line from Horace was used
on a number of war graves. It is
an enormous challenge to call
this a “Lie” (note the capital).
T
h
e
m
e
The theme of ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is
that
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Instead there is tragedy, futility and
waste of human life.
T
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Wilfred Owen fought in some of the
major battles of World War I and the
reality and horror of war shocked him.
In the face of the desperate suffering he
saw around him, it was no longer
possible to pretend warfare was
adventurous and heroic.
Instead Owen recorded in his poetry how shocking modern warfare was
and he sought to describe accurately what the conditions were like for
soldiers at the Front
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A
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F
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Lyric poem
Loose iambic pentameter
Irregular verse length
Follows something of a narrative
structure with a challenge:
Stanza 1 – sets the scene
Stanza 2 – gives the action
Stanza 3 – the aftermath
Stanza 4 – the challenge
Wilfred Owen, a renowned war poet, captured the horrors of World War One through his powerful poetry. This summary delves into Owen's life, the war in brief, the impact on poetry, and early responses to the conflict.
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DULCE DULCE ET DECORUM DECORUM ET EST EST By Wilfred Owen
Context Wilfred Owen fought and died in the First World War and much of his poetry is about the horrors of that conflict. The Poet Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous war poets. He was born in 1893 and died in 1918, just one week from the end of World War One. His poetry is characterised by powerful descriptions of the conditions faced by soldiers in the trenches. World War One World War One took place between 1914 and 1918 and is remembered particularly for trench warfare and the use of gas. Owing to the technological innovations in use during it, the war is often referred to as the first modern war. The War Poets Poets such as Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Ivor Gurney have a strong association with World War One. As a group, their poems are often violent and realistic, challenging earlier poetry which communicated a pro-war message. The first-hand experience of war is arguably one reason why there is such a shift in the attitude of poets towards war.
Context The war in brief: The war in brief 1914 Germany invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany. Japan joins the Allied forces: Ottoman Empire soon joins the Central Powers. War spreads to the seas. 1915 Women take up men's jobs. Stalemate continues on the Western Front. The Lusitania passenger liner is sunk, with 1,200 lives lost. London attacked from the air by German Zeppelins. 1916 Conscription for men aged between 18 and 41. A million casualties in ten months: Germany aims to 'bleed France white'. At sea the Battle of Jutland takes place. Armed uprisings in Dublin: the Irish Republic is proclaimed. 1917 German Army retreats to the Hindenburg Line. United States joins the war and assists the Allies. Tank, submarine and gas warfare intensifies. Royal family change their surname to Windsor to appear more British. 1918 Germany launches major offensive on the Western Front. Allies launch successful counter-offensives at the Marne and Amiens. Armistice signed on November 11, ending the war at 11am. In Britain, a coalition government is elected and women over 30 succeed in gaining the vote.
WW1 Poetry Enthusiastic response Disillusionment Heavy number of casualties. Conscription An end to the illusion that problems could be solved peacefully. to war and volunteering at first. Propaganda posters and war movies. A wish for glory and adventure. Patriotism But then...
Early poetic response to war Romantic sense of patriotic duty. His war sonnets were written in the first flush of patriotism and enthusiasm as a generation unused to war rushed to defend king and country. If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware . (from war sonnets-sonnet V. the soldier) Rupert Brook
Early poetic response to war England, in this great fight to which you go Because, where Honour calls you, go you must, Be glad, whatever comes, at least to know You have your quarrel just. Owen Seaman
Background Since ancient times it has been considered heroic to die in war. Homer s epic poem The Illiad celebrates, among other things, the nobility of dying on the battlefield. This view continued well into the 19th Century (and even the 20th Century), and Tennyson s popular poem The Charge of the Light Brigade gives us an idea of how poets and people in general thought about the valour of fighting and dying for one s country:
War Poets Poets such as Sassoon and Owen changed all that with their efforts to give us an accurate representation of trench warfare. Wilfred Owen fought in some of the major battles of World War I and the reality and horror of war shocked him. In the face of the desperate suffering he saw around him, it was no longer possible to pretend warfare was adventurous and heroic.
Wilfred Owen From the age of nineteen Owen wanted to be a poet and immersed himself in poetry, being especially impressed by Keats and Shelley. He wrote almost no poetry of importance until he saw action in France in 1917. From 1913 to 1915 he worked as a language tutor in France. He felt pressured by the propaganda to become a soldier and volunteered on 21st October 1915. He spent the last day of 1916 in a tent in France joining the Second Manchesters. He was full of boyish high spirits at being a soldier. Within a week he had been transported to the front line in a cattle wagon and was "sleeping" 70 or 80 yards from a heavy gun which fired every minute or so. He was soon wading miles along trenches two feet deep in water. Within a few days he was experiencing gas attacks and was horrified by the stench of the rotting dead; his sentry was blinded, his company then slept out in deep snow and intense frost till the end of January. That month was a profound shock for him: he now understood the meaning of war. "The people of England needn't hope. They must agitate," he wrote home. He escaped bullets until the last week of the war, but he saw a good deal of front-line action: he was blown up, concussed and suffered shell-shock. He was sent back to the trenches in September, 1918 and in October won the Military Cross by seizing a German machine-gun and using it to kill a number of Germans. On 4th November he was shot and killed near the village of Ors. The news of his death reached his parents home as the Armistice bells were ringing on 11 November.
Dulce et Decorum est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five Nines that dropped behind.
Dulce et Decorum est GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime. Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
Dulce et Decorum est If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
Drafts of the poem were dedicated to the propaganda poet Jessie Pope, but this dedication was removed from the published copy. Title of the poem comes from Horace s Odes ( Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ). Loose translation: It is sweet and proper to die for one s country DULCE ET DECORUM EST DULCE ET DECORUM EST Title is ironic it s intended meaning is the opposite of the literal. The aim is to shock the audience. The use of Latin reflects the classical education of the wealthier classes at the time and indicates that the audience Owen is writing for are well- educated Brits supporting the war in Europe. Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, MC (March 18, 1893 November 4, 1918) - British poet and soldier, regarded by many as the leading poet of the First World War. He was influenced by his friend Siegfried Wilfred Owen Sassoon and sat in stark contrast to both the public perception of war at the time, and to the confidently patriotic verse written earlier by war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Died one week before the armistice.
Powerful simile no longer strong, young men. Starched uniforms have become rags. Simile compares men to ugly old women ( hags ) in their coughing reader must remind themselves that these are in fact young men. Persona introduced one of the men. Powerful verb ( cursed ) we have an image of men at breaking point trudging in the mud Caesura, a pause created for emphasis Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. What kind of rest? Image of men walking beneath the flares used to light the battlefield Shod term used for horse shoes. Men barely human with bloodied feet. Image supported by the word lame , also used for horses War does sound like Wagner, it is tired . The men are strangely immune to the sound. The crashed of shells is reduced to tired, outstripped Five-Nines . Stanza ends with a slow rhythm, reflecting the tiredness of the men.
Sudden shift. Sudden urgency. Interesting diction ecstasy gives image of uncontrolled frantic fumbling Imagery of the man s pain as he inhales the gas. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. The simile of the green sea , evokes drowning imagery the effects of chlorine gas (mustard gas) on the lungs created the appearance of drowning as the lungs became blistered.
Lines establish that the persona is reflecting on these events some time after they happened. Helplessness lies at the heart of the persona s anxiety. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. Repetition of drowning words plunges , guttering, choking, drowning .
Direct address to the reader who is the reader? Original manuscript said Jessie Pope, but this was deleted. Why? Continuation on idea of nightmares from last stanza If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori. Body is dehumanised. Flung in like a carcass. War s true horror. Strong visual imagery. Repetition of if creates an if/then pattern in the stanza. Strong sound imagery Who is my friend sardonic. This line from Horace was used on a number of war graves. It is an enormous challenge to call this a Lie (note the capital).
Theme The theme of Dulce et Decorum est is that there is neither nobility in war, nor honour in fighting for your country. Instead there is tragedy, futility and waste of human life.
Theme Wilfred Owen fought in some of the major battles of World War I and the reality and horror of war shocked him. In the face of the desperate suffering he saw around him, it was no longer possible to pretend warfare was adventurous and heroic. Instead Owen recorded in his poetry how shocking modern warfare was and he sought to describe accurately what the conditions were like for soldiers at the Front
Theme Owen wanted people who were not in the trenches the people at home in England to see the reality and misery of war. He also wanted them to stop telling future generations the old lie Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ( It is sweet and fitting to die for one s country. ). It is worth noting that these lines were written by the poet Horace, two thousand years earlier.
A Note on Form Lyric poem Loose iambic pentameter Irregular verse length Follows something of a narrative structure with a challenge: Stanza 1 sets the scene Stanza 2 gives the action Stanza 3 the aftermath Stanza 4 the challenge
