Disabled

BY WILFRED OWEN

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,

And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,

Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park

Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,

Voices of play and pleasure after day,

Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.

                            *        *        *        *        *

About this time Town used to swing so gay

When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees,

And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,—

In the old times, before he threw away his knees.

Now he will never feel again how slim

Girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,

All of them touch him like some queer disease.

                            *        *        *        *        *

There was an artist silly for his face,

For it was younger than his youth, last year.

Now, he is old; his back will never brace;

He’s lost his colour very far from here,

Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,

And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race

And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

                            *        *        *        *        *

One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,

After the matches carried shoulder-high.

It was after football, when he’d drunk a peg,

He thought he’d better join. He wonders why.

Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts.

That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,

Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,

He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg;

Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years.

Germans he scarcely thought of, all their guilt,

And Austria’s, did not move him. And no fears

Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts

For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;

And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;

Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.

And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.

                            *        *        *        *        *

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.

Only a solemn man who brought him fruits

Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.

                            *        *        *        *        *

Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,

And do what things the rules consider wise,

And take whatever pity they may dole.

Tonight he noticed how the women’s eyes

Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.

How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come

And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/248358

Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen, 1893 – 1918

Bent double, 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 asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy 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, through 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 smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter 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.
Wilfred Owen

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est 

Dulce et Decorum Est

BY WILFRED OWEN

Bent double, 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 asleep. 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 ecstasy 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 through 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 smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter 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.

NOTES: Latin phrase is from the Roman poet Horace: “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”

Source: Poems (Viking Press, 1921)

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175898

 

In Flanders Fields 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”

Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. ⁽¹⁾

During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2^nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.

As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

For the story behind the inspiration for “In Flanders Fields”, see our page at:

Inspiration for In Flanders Fields http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

The Soldier

BY RUPERT BROOKE

If I should die, think only this of me:

      That there’s some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

      In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

      Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;

A body of England’s, breathing English air,

      Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

      A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

            Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

      And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

            In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/2279

Jessie Pope, “The Call” (1915)

The following poem is perhaps the best-known example of Jessie Pope’s jingoistic war poems, exhorting young men to enlist and save England, or be labeled cowards. Her reputation was such that Wilfred Owen originally entitled ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ as ‘To Jessie Pope.’

 

Who’s for the trench—
Are you, my laddie?
Who’ll follow French—
Will you, my laddie?
Who’s fretting to begin,
Who’s going out to win?
And who wants to save his skin—
Do you, my laddie?

Who’s for the khaki suit—
Are you, my laddie?
Who longs to charge and shoot—
Do you, my laddie?
Who’s keen on getting fit,
Who means to show his grit,
And who’d rather wait a bit—
Would you, my laddie?

Who’ll earn the Empire’s thanks—
Will you, my laddie?
Who’ll swell the victor’s ranks—
Will you, my laddie?
When that procession comes,
Banners and rolling drums—
Who’ll stand and bite his thumbs—
Will you, my laddie?

https://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/20century/topic_1_05/jpope_call.htm

Suicide in the Trenches

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

 _

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

 _

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.

Siegfried Sassoon

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/suicide-in-the-trenches/

Greater Love

Wilfred Owen, 1893 – 1918

Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care;
Till the fierce love they bear
Cramps them in death’s extreme decrepitude.

Your voice sings not so soft,—
Though even as wind murmuring through raftered loft,—
Your dear voice is not dear,
Gentle, and evening clear,
As theirs whom none now hear,
Now earth has stopped their piteous mouths that coughed.

Heart, you were never hot
Nor large, nor full like hearts made great with shot;
And though your hand be pale,
Paler are all which trail
Your cross through flame and hail:
Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/greater-love

Strange Meeting

Wilfred Owen, 1893 – 1918

It seemed that out of the battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which Titanic wars had groined.

Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,—
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

With a thousand fears that vision’s face was grained;
Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
“Strange, friend," I said, “Here is no cause to mourn.”
“None," said the other, “Save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,
But mocks the steady running of the hour,
And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something has been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress,
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Courage was mine, and I had mystery;
Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery;
To miss the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot—wheels
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.
I would have poured my spirit without stint
But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.

I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark; for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now . . .”

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/strange-meeting

NOTE: The first exemplar paragraph has been adapted to answer the example question. The second paragraph has not.

1. Literature Essay on War Poetry.

You must choose a topic that suits your texts. Our study of war poetry requires you to choose a question that allows you to discuss ideas, language features and author’s purpose. See examples highlighted in blue below.

TOPICS (Choose ONE)

1. Analyse how a main character OR individual matures and takes action in a text (or texts) you have studied.

2. Analyse how the growth OR breakdown of a relationship(s) affects the climax in a text (or texts) you have studied.

3. Analyse how the writer(s) has influenced your opinion of a choice made by a character OR individual in a text (or texts) you have studied.

4. Analyse how the setting of a text (or texts) you have studied influenced your understanding of the ideas in the text (or texts). (Note: Setting may include reference to time, place, historical or social context, or atmosphere.)

5. Analyse how an idea is developed in a text (or texts) you have studied.

6. Analyse how the writer(s) has created impact in a section of studied text (or texts).

7. Analyse how symbols are used to develop an idea in a text (or texts) you have studied.

8. Analyse how techniques of a genre or text type make a text(s) particularly effective for you. (Note: Genres and text types may include short story, novel, types of poetry and song, drama script, print or non-fiction texts.)

English 91098, 2014

QUESTIONS (Choose ONE)

1. Analyse how shifts in power were used to illustrate one or more themes in the written text(s).
2.  Analyse how language features were used to reveal the attitudes of one or more characters or individuals in the written text(s).
3.  Analyse how structure was used to reveal the writer’s purpose in the written text(s).
4. Analyse how setting was used to develop your understanding of one or more themes in the written text(s).

Note: “Setting” may refer to physical places as well as social and historical contexts.

5. Analyse how language features were used to shape your reaction to one or more ideas in the written text(s).

Note: “Ideas” may refer to character, theme, or setting.

6. Analyse how one or more significant events were used to comment on an aspect of society in the written text(s).

7. Analyse how cruel or kind behaviour was used to show one or more ideas in the written text(s).

Note: “Ideas” may refer to character, theme, or setting.

8. Analyse how the ending created a satisfying outcome in the written text(s).

English 91098, 2013

QUESTIONS (Choose ONE)

1. Analyse how a significant event illustrated one or more key themes in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how the setting was central to your understanding of the writer’s purpose in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how symbolism was used to reinforce an idea in the written text(s).

Note: “Idea” may refer to character, theme, or setting.

1. Analyse how the age or life experience of a character or individual influenced their understanding of the world around them in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how language features were used to stir readers’ emotions in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how the structure was used to build to a climax in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how disappointment or loss affected the relationships of a character or individual in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how the choices made by the writer influenced your reactions to one or more important themes in the written text(s).

2

English 91098, 2012

QUESTIONS (Choose ONE)

1. Analyse how the strong personal voice of a narrator or writer helped you to understand a theme in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how the language used intensified the message of the written text(s).

1. Analyse how a main character or individual in the written text(s) was influenced by another for a particular purpose.

1. Analyse how a section of the written text(s) showed purposeful development of a theme.

1. Analyse how a writer purposefully created first impressions of a character or individual in the written text(s) to deceive or surprise the reader.

1. Analyse how a conflict was used to explore a theme in the written text(s).

1. Analyse how the beginning and / or ending of the written text(s) demonstrated the writer’s purpose.

1. Analyse how the structure or organisation of the written text(s) affected your understanding of the theme(s).

2.1 LITERATURE ESSAY FRAMEWORK

These are some questions you should be answering in your literature essay. Use complete sentences to answer these questions. Use them as a guide for your analysis. Develop your ideas rather than just repeating them. Choose examples from the poems that allow you to build an interesting discussion on the topic and that demonstrate your understanding of the texts, audience and purpose.

INTRO

1. What is an interesting introductory statement you could make about Wilfred Owen and the mark he made on the world through his poetry?

In his poetry, Wilfred Owen…..

2. Choose one of these exam topics. What is your response to your chosen exam topic?

1. Analyse how language features were used to stir readers’ emotions in the written text(s).

2. Analyse how the language used intensified the message of the written text(s).

3. Analyse how the writer(s) has created impact in a section of studied text (or texts).

Owen used language features such as (1), (2), (3),….(use key words from the topic…)….to stir readers’ emotions OR intensify the message OR create impact in the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth and…..

3. How are these language features going to help answer the topic? Signpost the direction your analysis will take.

These language features ..(key words from topic)….stirred readers’ emotions OR intensified the message OR created impact…..because….

Paragraph 1

Statement & Technique

1. How does the first language feature (NAME THAT TECHNIQUE) intensify the message, OR stir readers’ emotions OR create impact in the written texts?

Owen’s use of (first technique) stirred readers’ emotions OR intensified the message OR created impact…..by….

Example

2. Provide an example of this technique in action in the poem.

3. Explain the effect this example has on the reader by:

a) describing the effect of the technique (Eg: If it’s a metaphor or simile describe the picture painted and the qualities implied by the comparison, or describe the soundscape created by alliteration, etc);

b)Describe the effect on the reader as they contemplate that imagery or sound, etc;

c) be perceptive.

4. Explain what the writer’s purpose might have been in phrasing his words that way and by using that technique at that point. How was he trying to get the audience (us, the people of Britain back in 1917, or others who might read it) to react or respond to his writing?

Was he trying to remind us of an experience already understood? Was he trying to inform an audience who might not have experienced the war? Explain? Why? Why not?

5. How does this example relate to the poem as a whole?

6. Identify another example of that language feature from the second poem. OR an example from the second poem that has a similar idea but presented in a different way (Ie: a different language feature perhaps).

How does this second example intensify the message, OR stir readers’ emotions OR create impact in the written texts?

Weave in an example of this technique from the poem.

7. Explain the effect this example has on the reader by

a) describing the effect of the technique (Eg: describe the picture painted by a metaphor and the qualities implied by the comparison, or describe the soundscape created by alliteration, etc);

b)Describe the effect on the reader as they contemplate that imagery or sound, etc;

c) Be perceptive.

8. Explain what the writer’s purpose might have been in phrasing his words that way and by using that technique at that point. How was he trying to get the audience (us, the people of Britain back in 1917, or others who might read it) to react or respond to his writing?

Was he trying to remind us of an experience already understood? Was he trying to inform an audience who might not have experienced the war? Explain? Why? Why not?

9. How does this example relate to the poem as a whole?

10. Analyse by comparing and contrasting.

How are these two examples similar? Tone? Mood? Language feature? Purpose? Setting? Imagery? Or idea?

What can we learn (Key words from the topic) …about intensification of the message OR stirring of readers’ emotions OR creation of impact…in the poems by these similarities?

How are these two examples different? Tone? Mood? Language feature? Purpose? Setting? Imagery? Or idea? Structure?

What can we learn (Key words from the topic) …about intensification of the message OR stirring of readers’ emotions OR creation of impact…in the poems by these differences?

11. Extension

How do your findings relate to our society today?

To your own experiences as a young person in NZ, in the Commonwealth? To global society?

What do you think has changed (regarding your analysis) since Owen wrote these poems? Stayed the same?

How successful was Owen in promoting a new way of understanding war and the experience of war? Was he successful in his aim of helping us understand the “pity of war”? Why? Why not?

Other ideas?

12. Link

Sum up your analysis from this paragraph and relate it back to the topic.

Repeat these questions/statements for the 2^nd and 3^rd paragraphs. Remember to analyse, develop and build on the ideas so as to avoid just saying the same thing 3 times. You can have the same idea 3 times – but develop it a bit more each time and in slightly different direction each time.