Disabled - Wilfred Owen

• Structure :

  • written in iambic pentameter so it has a very rigid structure
  • what is full of enjambment and caesura ( pause ) with stanzas of different lengths so it is disjointed
• “ Voices of boys rang saddening “

  • signifies his life will never be normal again. He will never run with his children.
• “ mothered “

  • The children need to be protected. He is frightening.
• “ queer disease “

  • they are repulsed by him
• “ Germans he scarcely though of “

  • he believe the propaganda which shows his naivety.
• “ Fear “

  • personification of fear meaning he has no awareness of what will happen
• “ jeweled hilts … pay arrears”

  • semantic field of weaponry meaning war jargon
• “ Do what things the rules consider wise, … take whatever “

  • He is no longer independent - he is cared by everyone but no one really cares for him
• “ strong man there were a whole “

  • Emasculating - he no longer feels like a man anymore
• “ How cold and late it is!”

  • cold/ lateness symbolizes death
  • ”!“ - shock/ frustration
• “ Why don’t they come? ” x2

  • Repetition - helplessness/begging
  • he is desperate for peace in death