The Pity Of War In Wilfred Owen's Poetry

Through his effective poetry, Wilfred Owen, conveyed, to the society, ‘the pity of war’ in many different ways. He expressed his point using many different poetical features, styles and methods, in addition to addressing his readers in different stances, at some points Wilfred addressed the reader in the first person where he talks from the subject’s point of view, at some points he addressed the reader in second person, directly speaking to the reader and finally at some points the poet has addressed the reader I the third person, telling someone’s story. All of these methods were very effective in allowing the poet to almost control the readers mind as when the reader is directly addressed, they feel extremely sorry and at some points some

Wilfred Owen writes, “He threw away his knees”, the metaphor ‘threw away his knees’ conveys the anger of the poet. Owen is referring to the soldier as in wasting away his knees rather than losing them with pride, as if losing them didn’t count for anything. The verb ‘threw’ is a strong verb that the poet uses to emphasize the waste, he describes the way the soldier was not careful or cautious. The poet is being rather ironic, the subject was supposed to be mature and make sacrifices accordingly but the complete opposite happened, he wasted his knees for nothing in return. Owen is rather angry with the soldier for not thinking about his actions, there is a possibility that the poet is not completely blaming the soldier and knows that it isn’t all the soldiers fault as he wasn’t mature enough and joined the war just to look good in front of girls or it might be under pressure as he doesn’t want to look like a coward. This metaphorical phrase alerts the reader and expresses a certain amount of blame and self-acknowledgment the subject feels in the part he has played in losing his legs. This quote is in contrast with the quote, ‘a blood-smear down his leg’. These two contrasting quotes, showing the before and after of the physical changes the soldier has experienced, convey even more pity. In the second quote, the poet tells

I feel that Owen has made the reader want to know more about the real war behind all the propaganda, the poet has made reader feel attentive at many times by using contrasts, repetition, metaphorical language and imagery etc., he has captivated the reader’s attention by using dramatic devices. Owen has used powerful language to show how he truly feels about the war as he once said “ My subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity”, and by doing so he has made the reader feel extreme pity for the war in his poem