exposure Flashcards
stanza structure
each stanza has a 3 part structure. it begins with a blunt and powerful sentence then theres lot of highly emotive vocabulary choices then it ends with an anti climax line. owen wants us to understand how the soilder felt. everything is tense and seemly building to a climax then nothing happens. the 8 verse repition reflects the emotional roller coster the soilder were going through on a daily basis. owen uses half rhyme to make the reader feel uneasy because it reflects how the soilder feels waiting for battle. the final line of each stanza relates to each other and is deliberatly amgious
“like a dull rumour of some other war”
owen is deliberatly using biblical imagery refering to biblical writings concering the end of war. in matthew 24 jesus says” you will hear of wars and rumours of war” perhaps owen is saying the situation there in feels like the end of the world for the poor soilders.
“winds that knives us”/”mad gust”/”pawn massing in the east her melonchony army”
numerous weather personifications. overwhelming presents the idea that nature is more powerful than enemy soliders. he uses military imagery to describe the rain , he says that it attacks once more than ranks. showing its more dangerous than the enemy soliders.
“but nothing happens”
shows the soilders dissapointment and there emotional weakness when theres no action. which is ironic as the soilders are no longer brave. the poem ends as it began with the refrain which creates a cyclical structure. it ends back where it started highlighting the futility of war and the fact that nothing has been acheived.
“for the love of god is dying”
suggest that people are loosing there beliefs of God when exposed to the horrors of war. However “dying” could be references of Christ dying on the cross just as Christ died for humanity the soldiers are Christ-like characters who sacrifice there life for others.this is the ideology behind war that soldiers fight so civilians can be free.
“slowly our ghost drag home”
emphasizes theres no escape.”ghost” suggest they think there already dead or waiting to be killed. caesura is also used, punctuation usage create a division reflecting the division caused by war between those at home and the present setting for the soldiers in a freezing cold trench.
nature is more powerful than the war itself
in war soilders spend alot of time waiting for action and living with the constant feeling of danger however alot of the times “nothing happens”. The soilders spend more time waiting in the freezing trenches causing the to get sick and sometime die. therefore in thoses cases nature is more powerful than the war and enemy soliders
context
war was seen as something brave people did, honourable and exciting to the people at the time. since they never had any major war. however owen was keen to expose the reality of war hence the title.exposure focuses on Owens experiences in the trench warfare. exposure could refer to the exposure to he weather conditions.
