How does Owen use form and language in order to convey his feelings about World War One?

Wilfred Owen, the most acclaimed war poet of the First World War, was an extremely talented wordsmith, whose poetry was always of a high calibre. This however, was not Owens main aim, with his view on the role of a poet being made very clear through his Preface: All a poet can do today is warn. Owen saw it as his duty to relay the events of the First World War to those who would not see it themselves, in order to warn future generations. As a result, Owens poetry can be, to some extent, categorised into poetry written with political intent, and more personal poetry. A pattern that emerges when these poems are looked at is that, whilst almost all of Owens poetry is heavily influenced by the Romantic style, that with persuasive purpose subverts or even ignores the Romantic form for effect. One way in which Owen subverts a traditional Romantic form is through his experimental use of pararhyme, a technique that creates discord in the ears of the reader, often reflective of the mood of the poem. An ideal example of this is Has Your Soul Sipped? a poem that uses pararhyme in contrast with the highly romanticised language used: passing the rays /of the rubies of morning, /or the soft rise / of the moon. This undermining of a typical rhyming scheme links in with the message behind the poem; an attack upon patriotism: Or the sweet murder after long guard unto the martyr. Owen also uses this poem to Another example of the use of pararhyme is in the poem Strange Meeting in which the use of rhymes such as moan/mourn and wild/world have a similar effect of mirroring the mood of the poem; discomforting and disturbing. Half rhyme is also present in the poem taint/stint and untold/distilled being further examples of how a traditional rhyming scheme is perverted to create dissonance. Throughout the poem the second rhyme is usually lower in pitch than the first, which also aids in producing the effect of dissonance, and failure. Throughout the poem Strange Meeting, Owen challenges ideas such as patriotism None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress, with the implication that countries were taking backward steps due to the war. This shows the political intent behind the poem, and justifies the alteration in from from the Romantic style Owen drew so much influence from. This change in the use of a typical Romantic form links in with Owens apparent disinterest in poetry expressed in his Preface above all I am not concerned with Poetry and his preoccupation with the pity of War, best expressed through the use of unseemly sounds, as that is what war was to Owen. Owens subversion of form is used in conjunction with his political motives to criticise the war and the way in which it was fought. In order to argue that poems with political meaning have had their form altered by Owen, relatively conventional poetry must be

looked at as a control. The poem With an Identity Disc is a personal poem addressed to Owens brother, which follows a traditional rhyme scheme, and as an exploration of personal desires and dreams, holds little or no political motivation. This is shown through the poems very typical form; a sonnet with a regular rhyme scheme and meter heats/Keats. The poem also uses romantic imagery, in contrast with some of Owens more famous poems such as Dulce Et Decorum Est: the same that keep in shade the quiet place of Keats. This very conventional use of form and language add further weight to the opinion that Owens poetry only experiments with new ideas in poetry with political intent. The blunt and figurative language used in poems such as Dulce et Decorum Est is also evidence of his deviance from the standard Romantic style for poems with effect. Despite the regular rhyme scheme of the poem, Dulce et Decorum Est its language is completely at odds with the mystical language of the Romantics, instead using haunting words or phrases such as guttering and froth corrupted lungs whose grim reality shock the reader. This change from a conventional type of language to one far more fitting with the pity of War reflects Owens intentions with the poem again, a brutal attack upon the jingoistic poetry of Jesse Pope, as referenced through My friend, you would not tell with such high zest . The my friend referenced is likely to be Jesse Pope, who did write highly patriotic pro-war poetry, although it could also be interpreted as anyone and everyone who promoted war without having experienced the realities of it If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace The poem The Letter also is very experimental, with Owen preferring to use dialogue to conventional poetry, juxtaposing an unrealistic portrayal of war through the medium of a letter with the actual reality of it, climaxing with the death of the soldier in the poem, cruelly emphasising the pity of War Owen felt obliged to portray through his poetry to the reader. The vernacular of the soldier in the poem is also as far as can be from the Romantic language Owen favoured in poems such as Uriconium: an Ode, with there being a considerable contrast between Yer what? Then dont, yer ruddy cow! and ancient glories suddenly overcast. This emphasises the point Owen is attempting to make of the obliviousness of the Home Front were out of harms way, not bad fed, when in reality they are in the middle of a shell-storm. This use of dialogue interposed with conventional poetry is also present in Inspection, which highlights mans inhumanity to man in war Some days confined to a camp he got, showing the punishment a soldier received for not being able to remove his own blood from a shirt, blood that had left his body as a result of the war itself. Owens disillusionment with religion can also be sensed, with a reference to Field-Marshal Gods inspection. This can be seen as referencing God himself as a Field Marshal, implying that this entire war is Gods fault and he is a part of it, suggesting contempt for

religion. It can also be interpreted as an army commander who believes himself to be God, which again just highlights the powerlessness of the common soldier in war. Throughout Owens poetry it is evident to see that the change in form and language is linked to the political messages of his poems, with rhyme scheme, language and form all being changed from a typical Romantic style to a more experimental, discordant fashion which compliments Owens opinions expressed in the poetry. With poetry less charged with intent however, Owen reverts to a typical Romantic form, not feeling the need to subvert form to emphasise his messages.