Poetry Exposure Flashcards
‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…’
‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…’
‘Our’- Pronoun= reveals the large scale of suffering creating empathy for the soldiers
‘Brains’-Noun=Weather intentionally attacks the part of the body that controls all the faculties leaving the soldiers unable to function.
‘merciless iced’-Personified weather/ adjective= revels the cruelty and how cold hearted the weather is. It continues to attack the soldiers alluding to a war with nature. Almost like a sentient being which targets the soldiers.
‘east winds that knive us’- Metaphor= wind compared to a sharp knife that stabs the soldiers in the back. Monosyllabic words reflect the constant pain. Links to Eurus the Greek God of the east winds. God was known to be ill-fated which perhaps is a reference to soldiers here who are doomed to die.
‘…‘-Ellipsis= Never ending agony as they await their fate.
‘Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence’
‘Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence’
‘SSSSSS’-Repetition of Sibilance= mirrors sound of bullets pressing by them. Fighting enemy and nature at the same time.
Reveals the constant suffering.
‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces-‘
‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces-‘
‘flakes’fingering’ feeling’faces’-Personification and alliteration =Nature is sentient and is actively seeking out the solders. The alliteration of ‘f’ reflects the softness of the snow however it is dangerous and treacherous. It also shows that the frost is sneaking up on them like an invisible attacker.
‘Stealth’-Noun= the soldiers can not escape nature. it overpowers them and they can not fight back so they must endure it. Nature is almost like a predator and the soldiers are the prey.
’-‘-Caesura= perhaps reveals the moment of realization that the snow means the soldiers could die. They respond to this as they ‘cringe in holes’
‘But nothing happens’
‘But nothing happens’
Oxymoron = They don’t contribute to the war as they are not at then front lines they are waiting but still they are loosing their lives. This oxymoron is repeated as they are repeatedly left to die and suffer. Owen is the war being prolonged?
Wilfred Owen / conext
WW1 poet who wanted to expose the reality of war. Heavy casualties due to advancements of weapons. Propaganda was promoted during the war making people who signed up unaware of the horrific truth. This poem is a response to Jessie’s magazine ‘The War Game’ and Owen tries to undermine this propaganda. Owen died a week before the war ended due to the war being prolonged.
