I am not one to be interested
in war poems but this poem really caught my attention. It described the looks
of the worn-down soldiers with such clear imagery. “Bent double, like old
beggars under sacks/ Knock-kneed, coughing like hags…” (Lines 1-2). The first
stanza really gives the reader a feeling of fatigue the soldiers were feeling
from the war by using very long sentences and great imagery. “Men marched
asleep” and “Drunk with fatigue” (Lines 4 and 7). Owen really provides a great
insight of the hardships that soldiers would face in war.
“Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – an
ecstasy of fumbling” (Line 9). This first line of the second stanza really
shifts the mood of the poem from fatigue to quick and alert. Owen then describes
the horrifying death of a fellow soldier that is “drowning” in the poisonous
gas. The last for lines shows that Owen is repulsed at the thought of young men,
who haven’t lived a full life, die wars.
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