Exposure Flashcards
Poet
Wilfred Owen is one of the most well-known WW1 poets who was famously anti-war.
He fought in the war and this poem is a realistic, unheroic portrayal of fighting.
Owen went to war on two occasions and was killed on the second.
Title
The title could refer to the weather that the soldiers are ‘expos[ed]’.
However, Owen is also “expos[ing]” the harsh, undignified aspects of conflict that are never portrayed in propaganda or poems glorifying war.
Key Ideas Explored in Exposure
Lasting effects of war Pointlessness of war weather and boredom Loss of humanity Misery in war
Personification of the Weather
“Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
The sibilance also highlights the intensity of the pain and the brutality of the weather.
Personification of the Weather
“Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”
Nature is presented as more damaging and deadly than the bullets.
Personification of the Weather
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces” The consonance (repetition of consonant sounds) here reflects the ferocity of the weather.
“Dawn amassing in the East her melancholy army / Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey.”
Contradiction
Dawn, usually associated with ideas of light and hope, is here hostile and brings even more suffering.
Colour imagery
The colour imagery “grey” conveys ideas of despair and boredom.
Military vocabulary
“Ranks” is a military term and is repeated, reminding the reader that the weather is the soldiers’ enemy.
imagery to highlight the misery of the soldiers in war
“The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow”
“War lasts, rain soaks and clouds sag stormy”
Rhetorical questions
Rhetorical questions suggest the pointlessness of war.
They make the reader question why we allow soldiers to be exposed to such suffering:
“What are we doing here?”
“Is it that we are dying?”
Repetition
Repetition of “but nothing happens” throughout the poem gives the readers a sense of the boredom caused by waiting.
It hints at the pointlessness of war.
Loss of Humanity: Metaphors
“Slowly, our ghosts drag home”
This metaphor suggests that war has sucked all the life out of the soldiers.
It also reminds readers that they are on the brink of death.
“All their eyes are ice”
This metaphor describes the extreme effects of the weather.
It implies the soldiers have lost their humanity and are close to breaking point.
Rhythm
The poem is made up of five-line stanzas.
The form mirrors the repetitive and never-ending nature of war.
It also mirrors the ongoing boredom and misery of the soldiers.
The ABBAC rhyme scheme is repeated, which reflects the monotony (sameness) of war.
But the last line of each stanza creates an unsettling feel. This is possibly to mirror how destabilised and on edge, the soldiers feel waiting for the enemy to attack.
First person narrative
The poem is written in the first person. It has many collective, possessive pronouns, such as “we”, “us”, “our”.
This hints at the collective (group) suffering of the soldiers in WW1. It also encourages the reader to share in their pain.
Key Quotations in Exposure
“…But nothing happens”
Repetition of “but nothing happens” throughout the poem gives the readers a sense of the boredom caused by waiting.
It also hints at the pointlessness of war.
Key Quotations in Exposure
“Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
Personification and sibilance.
The weather is personified to make it sound menacing and deadly. This also characterises the weather as the real enemy of the soldiers.
The sibilance here highlights the intensity of the pain and the brutality of the weather.
