Wilfred Owen   

      (1893-1918)                                                                           

      Wildred Owen was born March 18th 1893. He is known as one of the leading poets of World War One, and known for his war poetry which reflect the gas warfare and the horrors of trench warfare. Siegfreid Sassoon, who was one of Wilfreds good friends who had an effect on his poetic voice. Wilfred used paparhyme and consoncance heavily. He was innovative and brilliant of his poetry. He was one of the first to experiment with extenisivley. Wilfreds doctor Arthur Brock, at Craiglockhart encouraged him to translate his dreams and experiences into his poetry. Sassoon helped him use realism in his poetry. Wilfreds poetry illistrated physical landscapes that surrounded him, and he used the relationship with the human body to the landscapes.Geoff Dyer states "To a nation stunned by greif the prophetic lag of posthumous publication made it seem that Owen was speaking from the other side of the grave".

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

    Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

    Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out heir hasty orisons.

No mokeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,--

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

   Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

   The pallor of girls' brows shall be thier pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

       This poem is all about young soldiers in World War One, and their experiences. Young soldiers are getting getting slaughtered in the war field. There is only horrible guns shooting through the air. The sound of rifles' shooting through the air piercing soldiers ears. There is the hope of repeating prayers for the soldiers. There is no ridicule of the soldiers, and there are no prayers for them out in the battle field. There is nobody saving the soldiers out there. The sound of constant guns shells flying through the air. There are bugles'( the sound of the people) calling for the soldiers from the strongholds of their homes. People at home are asking themselves what they can do to help out these soldiers. Nobody back at home can help these soldiers but hope for them. The people at home give their prayers of good byes. Then the women will cover a cloth on their coffins sealing them up. The women (wives, girlfriends) are waiting back at home with sympathy. As each day ends more soldiers will die in this horrible conflict between nations.

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent dourble, 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 aslep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas - shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstatsy 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 throug 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.

If in some somthering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flum him in,

And watch the white eyes writing gus face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling fromt he froth-corrupted lungs

Obscene as cancer, bittter 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.

   The story of this poem is about Wilfred Owens experience while he was in the war at that time. He explains that people say its a good deed to go to war, but in his opinion he says war is horrible and it's all a lie. He wittnessed many tragic things such as, soilders, who are the men, that marched in there sleep because they were so tired and exhausted from being beaten and tortured. He say's the men felt "blind and drunk with fatigue" from marching in the war. The plot in this poem is when World War One was going on because they had talked about Germans shooting poisoness gas shells at people, which are known as the "8 five nines". The setting of this poem takes place out in the war zone feild when Wildred was present durning this time. This poem has alot of emotions, theres fear, sadness, anger, disgust and hope. Alot of people are dying and loosing to this battle there having, many with wounds from gas shells being shot at them, and choking on their own blood drowning under the green sea. Wilfred also talks about his dreams he would have about dead people, and carrying them off the feild full of blood nd white eyes , wich sores on innocent tongues. He also says he wouldn't dare tell yougn children about this experiece Wilfred had because it's so disturbing to hear what happens to people when there in war. The most powerful lines in tihs poem are lines 27-28 Dulce et...Mori: A quoation from the latin poet Horace, "It is a sweet fitting to die for ones country". The speaker of this peom is the poet himself because he writes this poem in first person. This poem surprised me because Wilfred expresses his thoughts so bluntly.

Links:

Here is a link to other war poetry= http://www.warpoetry.co.uk

Sources:

Groves, Paul. November 11, 1996. http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/tutorials/intro/owen.

Gutenburg. May 4, 2007. http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/owenidx.htm