exposure

• Wilfred Owen was a soldier and officers in World War 1. He died before the end of the war

  but during his time he saw the full horror of conditions on the front line
• He wrote a number

  of poems about this, published after the war with the help from fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon.
• The war itself was often criticised because of a huge loss of life for very little gain. During the

  Somme over 60,000 British soldiers died in one day, and in all they only gained 6 miles by the

  end of the war.
• Owen’s poems were often angry that the soldiers were in muddy dangerous

  trenches while the generals behind the lines were living in comfort. Owen’s poems tried to show

  the truth of conditions to people back home.
• Owen’s poems were often angry that the soldiers were in muddy dangerous

  trenches while the generals behind the lines were living in comfort. Owen’s poems tried to show

  the truth of conditions to people back home.
•  He was no against fighting, but was angry about the

  conditions soldiers had to live with in order to do so.
• The poem itself is based on war and so links to conflict. The poem itself is about the

  weather and conditions of living in the trenches rather than any fighting.
•  It is more a poem

  about the conflict between man and nature. This is extremely relevant because man

  has created machines that can launch explosive shells for miles and destroy the landscape,

  and yet, nature can still do more harm than any of it.
• The poem uses a large amount of ellipses, caesuras and repetition to create an on-going sense of

  waiting and boredom.
•  The poem is made of eight stanzas with a consistent use of a half line to end. This reinforces the sense

  of stasis or sameness throughout the poem that nothing is happening.
•  There is use of para-rhyme showing words which

  appear to rhyme yet sound wrong when read to create the sense of unsettledness in the poem the soldiers are feeling. 
•  Owen

  also uses a huge amount of onomatopoeia and alliteration in the poem to emphasise the atmosphere and the sound of

  weather.
• Written about soldiers in a trench we expect to see a large amount of military language, however

  most of this is used to describe and personify the weather as if it were and army attacking them. 
• The poem ends with the

  fear of tonight and the people who will lose lives and how none of this will change anything. Within the poem it is the weather

  that is represented as merciless and triumphant.
• The poem defies the convention of war and looks at the weather assaulting

  the soldiers, not another army. This is to highlight the unknown horrors of

  war to people at home.
• The poet uses repetition and a consistent structure to create the static tone

  of the poem. The lack of change adds to the tone of despair.
• -The alliteration is used to create a sense of atmosphere to the weather and

  to draw parallels to the violence of war and weather.
• key quote 1- "Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us"
• key quote 1- the hyperbolic tone in "our brains ache" emphasises the physical pain and discomfort of the soldiers, and how the war is causing the soldiers physical and phycological pain.
• key quote 1- the personification of "merciless iced east winds" highlights the deadliness of the weather, and how nature is more powerful than human beings
• key quote 1- the "winds that knive us" might be representing how nature is ruthless and dangerous and how the soldiers are vulnerable
• key quote 1- the inclusive pronouns of "our" and "us" displays the universal nature of their suffering as well as the unity of the soldiers
• key quote 1- the ellipsis symbolises the elongated sense of time and how it is passing slowly, showcases the boredom and the monotony contrasts the expectations of war
• key quote 2- "watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire,"
• key quote 2- the sensory imagery of "watching" illustrates how the soldiers are on high alert, however it makes them seem helpless and passive as they can't do anything
• key quote 2- the verb "tugging" juxtaposes the passive nature of the soldiers, and emphasises the strength of the wind
• key quote 2 the personification of nature being "mad" makes it sound wild and unpredictable, just like war
• key quote 2- alliteration of "w" in "watching", "we", and "wire" creates a quivering or sobbing sound, which cements the soldiers misery, subtly questioning the miseries of war, most question words start with a "w", so could also be showing the confused and disorientated state of the soldiers because of the poor conditions
• key quote 2- the caesura symbolises the emotional and physical decline of the soldiers
• key quote 3-"northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles,

  far off, like a dull rumour of some other war."
• key quote 3- the onomatopoeia in "rumbles" displays violence and destruction
• key quote 3- the "flickering gunnery" creates synaesthesia, and indicates how the soldiers are delirious , as all their senses are mixed up
• key quote 3- the use of religious imagery ("like a dull rumour of some other war.") is a biblical reference to the end of the world (Mathew 24:6) and reflects how the soldiers feel like everything ends in war
• key quote 4- "We only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy."
• key quote 4- Owen uses the rule of 3 ("war", "rain", "clouds")to perhaps create a sense of monotony and boredom and highlight the repetitive nature of the soldiers experience
• key quote 4- the use of pathetic fallacy in "rain" and "clouds" reinforces the sense of depression and gloominess
• key quote 4- the sibilance in "sag stormy" recreates the silence and adds a sinister tone, making the war/weather seem threatening and convoys how the soldiers are frightened
• key quote 4- the word "sag" creates an impression of heaviness as if the soldiers are carrying a burden