Exposure Flashcards
“For love of god seems dying”
Owen presents the soldiers to be carrying out their moral duty to protect the innocent people at home. Owen uses a contemporary listener’s association of Christianity with morality to show the soldiers selflessness. This can be tied to the idea of Jesus suffering and dying to save humanity
Conversely, Owen may be showing the soldiers losing their Faith in God as it is difficult to reconcile the theory of a benevolent God with the reality of conflict. This links to Owen’s short career in the church
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
Sibilant consonants mirror the sound of the ballets and break the previously silent atmosphere and also present snow as a real threat as the soldiers are not fighting with the far off bullets but the snowflakes instead. This positions nature as the real enemy
“Dawn missing in the east her melancholy army
Nature is the antagonist in the poem. Owen juxtaposes the nurturing role of female nature with the aggressive connotations of an army
“Snow dazed” “sun dosed” “blossoms” “blackbird fusses”
The passage of time is presented by the description of the season changing, showing how long the soldiers are sat waiting
“On us the doors are closed”
The metaphore conveys the despondency felt by the soldiers who believe they have been forgotten.
It implies that those at home can carry on with life as usual while they forget about the soldiers dying for them
“This frost will fasten on this mud and us”
Owen laments the military leaders view that the soldiers are dispensable by depicting the soldiers as indistinguishable from mud.
“Wearied we stay awake because the night is silent”
They are scared to sleep even though nothing happens there is the constant fear of the “dull rumour of some other war”
