exposure

• Poems to compare with:

  The Prelude- both present nature as a monstrous being, antagonizing nature. Nature is seen as an inescapable force

  Remains

  Bayonet Charge- both show that te soldiers have lost a sense of faith and question their own fate. also the psychological aspects of war

  War Photographer

  Kamikaze

  Charge of the Light Brigade- how violence and military mistakes continue to repeat themselves
• Wilfred Owen was a WW1 poet, where the war was glorified but he exposes the reality of war
• Context:

  -he joined the war but returned due to shell shock

  -he had a suppressed anger for the war
• shows 2 enemies both nature and the other soldiers but the real enemy is the nature
• 'our brains ache' this hyperbolic language shows the shared pain experienced. 'brain' highlights both the physical and psychological pain they all experienced
• 'merciless iced east winds that knive us...' the use of personification shows that the wind is more of an enemy of war and it is attacking them
• 'the night is silent' this creates an ominous setting
• the use of elipsis shows a sense of anticipation and how they are not sure what is going to happen next
• 'silence, sentries' s sound resembles whispers
• uses and ABBA rhyme scheme which highlights a sense of isolation
• 'but nothing happens' this is anticlimactic
• 'twitching agonies' uses vivid imagery to highlight the pain and torture the wind creates
• 'men among its brambles' the juxtaposition shows that ;'man' is going against nature. It shows the hostile environment that is created by nature
• 'flickering gunnery rumbles' shows that they can hear the sounds creating a daunting atmosphere
• 'dull rumour of some other war' shows that war is not always happening but still has an impact over everything
• 'what are we doing here?' the rhetorical question shows the inner conflict filled by the soldiers, highlighting the emotional turmoil created by war
• 'we only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy' the fact that they 'only know' shows that war has consumed them. 'war lasts' shows that the only certainty they have is that war is something that is consistent and persistent.''rain soaks' shows that war is a destructive force that destroys everything in its path. 'clouds sag' shows that war is a force that is unpredictable and uncontrollable.
• 'dawn massing in the east' highlights that the weather is likened to an army that gathers, the weather is an army of its own
• 'melancholy army' personifies the weather to show the power of nature
• 'shivering ranks of grey' the use of the colour imagery highlights the lack of life and colour
• 'but nothing happens' the short syntax in the 3rd stanza shows that the peace is short lived and that they are ultimately fighting a different war, it is with nature
• 'sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence' the sibilance is repeated showing the repetitive nature of war. It also shows a false sense of security being broken by the harsh b sound of the bullets, breaking the security they feel
• 'less deadly than the air' shows that the weather was the most harmful thing
• 'black with snow' the juxtaposition illustrates that war ruins anything good and pure like nature
• 'flock, pause and renew' mimics the loading of a machine gun, shows that nature is a weapon
• 'but nothing happens' in the 4th stanza this highlights the pointlessness of war
• 'wind's nonchalance' shows that nature does not need to try to be powerfully and deadly, uses little effort
• 'back on forgotten dreams' this alludes to Owen's personal experience, him wanting to do poetry but is in the war.
• 'Deep into grassier ditches.' the caesura shows a break in their misery
• 'So we drowse, sum-dozed' uses euphoric imagery to convey what they wished happened in the war versus the reality of war.
• '-Is it that we are dying?' the dash snaps them back into reality, being a reminder of their experiences and how their wishes can never come true
• 'all closed: on us the doors are closed' this highlights there is no escape for them as no one cares about them
• 'we turn back to our dying' this shows them going back to their awful conditions. This blunt statement shows the soldiers' disillusionment with their cause
• The structure is cyclical to show the repetitive nature of conflict
• Nature is personified as the enemy rather than the actual opposition
• 'For love of God seems dying' This religious reference shows that the soldiers hace lost all religious faith, they are not looking forward to any sort of life after death. There is a lack of religious imposed mortality remaining in the situation- shows the cruelty of it. Their reason to be born is to just die
• 'this frost will fasten on this mud and us' shows the collective horrible experience and that the enemy of the weather ended up being the winner, highlighting the power of nature. Nature is burying them alive
• 'burying-party, picks and shovels in shaking grasp' shows that they don't get a proper funeral
• 'over half-known faces' shows that they only know everyone through war, also highlights that war has consumed them and everything they know
• 'But nothing happens.' the last line is repeated throughout the poem, showing the repetitive nature of war and that they all have to continue with the war after. There is no fighting but still the danger is due to the extreme cold.