Wilfred Owen's Exposure Analysis

Wilfred Owen's Exposure

• Wilfred Owen was born in 1893, joined the British Army in 1915, and died in battle on November 4th, 1918.
• Owen originally pursued a career in the church but abandoned it due to his perception of the church's indifference to the local community.
• Owen's poetry often focuses on the futility and meaningless nature of war.
• Owen uses repetition and three-part stanzas in the poem "Exposure" to highlight the intense wait during battle, the anticipation, and the anticlimactic letdown when nothing happens.
• The soldiers lived on adrenaline for extended periods, leading to shell shock (now known as PTSD).
• The opening lines of each stanza in "Exposure" are blunt and powerful, followed by highly emotive vocabulary, and then conclude with an anti-climax ("but nothing happens").
• The poem's "abbc" rhyme scheme reflects the cyclical and futile nature of the soldiers' situation.
• Owen uses pararhyme, where end-of-line words share the same consonant sounds but different vowels.
• The pararhyme in "Exposure" portrays the soldiers' constant state of nervous anticipation, emphasizing the lack of closure and satisfaction.
• Owen utilizes personification to emphasize the dangerous nature of weather compared to the less deadly bullets.
• The poem ends with the recurring phrase "but nothing happens," highlighting the cyclical nature of the soldiers' experience and the overall futility of war.
• The poem ends where it began, highlighting the relentless cycle of waiting and the lack of progress.

Comparisons to Other Poems

• "Bayonet Charge" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" also explore the futility of war.
• Poems like "Remains" and "War Photographer" depict the harsh realities of war.