EXPOSURE

• ‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us…’-> first line establishes the idea that nature is the enemy
• "but nothing happens"--> at the end of the first 3 stanzas-> break from narritive
• sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence--> sibilance creates a piercing sound
• is it that we are dying--> contrast to the semantic field of melancholy to happy as it shows how he thinks he may be on heaven--> death is more peacefull than life
• half known faces--> soldiers dont know each other than outside war+ war brings ppl toigeher + sad as peple die alone
• we cringe in holes--> image of soldiers trying desparately to escape the cold-->suggest they feel defeated--> not actually a heroic arm but a group of helpless soldiers
• shiverying ranks of grey--> how men are faded out versionsof theirselves
• • exposure context- Wilfred Owen was a soldier in WW1Exposure is about his experience at Redan Ridge in the winter of 1917He wanted to convey the 'pity of war' to the public and had an anti-patriotic attitude
• Anaphora – ‘but nothing happens’ – Repetition reinforces the monotony of war. At the start, it might seem like a relief – there is no danger. However, as the poem continues, a sense of frustration and concern sets in. At the end of the poem, the meaning might change to reflect the feeling that we have learned little from conflict and war, and we are doomed to repeat these mistakes.