1. Wilfred Owen

2. As bronze may be much beautified By lying in the dark damp soil, So men who fade in dust of warfare fade Fairer, and sorrow blooms their soul -Wilfred Owen As Bronze May Be Much Beautified

3. Wilfred Owen was born on 18 th March 1893 in Plas Wilmot, Shropshire. A small English town close to Owestry.

4. When he was just 11, Owen discovered his poetic vocation during his summer holidays. He was greatly influenced by the poet, John Keats.

5. After failing his University entrance exams not once but twice, Owen finally enlisted in the army in 1915. He was only sent to the western frontline in 1917 After while he was diagnosed with shellshock due to heavy fighting.

6. It was in the Craiglockhart War hospital, recovering from shellshock, that Owen met fellow poet and idol: Siegfried Sassoon.

7. Sassoon looked over Owen’s works, being 7 years older than Owen, and gave him encouragement. He also introduced Owen to other literary figures that shared his views on the war and the world.

8. Speculation about relationship

9. 1917 Owen returned to frontline

10. Wilfred Owen was shot and killed in action whilst attempting to transverse the Sambre canal. He died one week, to the hour, before the official ending of World War One.

11. 2nd Lt, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, 5th Bn. Manch. R., T.F., attd. 2nd Bn. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the attack on the Fonsomme Line on October 1st/2nd, 1918. On the company commander becoming a casualty, he assumed command and showed fine leadership and resisted a heavy counter-attack. He personally manipulated a captured enemy machine gun from an isolated position and inflicted considerable losses on the enemy. Throughout he behaved most gallantly. [6] [6]

12. The day after his death, Owen was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He also received the Military cross for his brave leadership, an award he had always sought.

13. It was as the church bells rang through all of Europe that Owen’s family received the news of his death.

14. Leading poet of World War One Much of his work was greatly influenced and even edited by Sassoon, although Owen went on to become better known than his mentor. Owen and Sassoon were two of 16 war poets commemorated on a slate stone of the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.

16. “My subject is War and the pity of War and the Poetry in the Pity.” Owen wrote about the horrors of the ‘Patriotic’ war in which he fought. He exposed the truth behind the propaganda of war and the noble idea that fighting for your country was a natural service. He speaks this opinion in poems like ‘Anthem for a doomed Youth, Dulce et decorum est, Futility’

17. ‘Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori’ It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.

18. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of disappointed shells that dropped behind. GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

19. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

20. 1. The poet uses a very powerful image in the first two lines of the stanza. Explain the image. What effect is created through the image? Which sound images reinforce the picture? What atmosphere does this image establish for the rest of the poem? 2. What are “flares” and why would they be “haunting”? 3. The word which best describes the men as they marched asleep would be soporific lethargic somnambulistic 4.In your own words explain what is meant by “blood-shod” How is this metaphor continued in the rest of the stanza? 5. What effect is created through the soft sounds and the rhythm of the last line of the stanza? The soldiers are being compared to beggars and old hags The metaphor emphasises their homelessness, their lack of possessions and their tiredness. Alliteration of knock-kneed, cursed, and coughing It creates a hopeless, depressed, futile atmosphere. Flares are lights /flames in the sky. They are haunting because they follow them The soldiers are being compared to beggars and old hags

21. GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

22. How does the mood change at the beginning of this stanza/ 7. The use of the word “ecstasy “ is unusual in this context. Give one reason why. 8. How does the punctuation in this stanza contribute to the mood? 9. “Dim through the misty panes…..guttering, choking, drowning” a. Explain the extended metaphor in these lines. b. Why has the poet chosen to use this extended metaphor to describe the death of the men? c. Isolate the key words which build up the image.

23. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

24. 10. Why are the dreams described as “smothering” 11. The poet includes the reader in this stanza. Suggest why. 12. “And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;” These lines are full of poetic devices. Identify and explain from these lines a simile alliteration hyperbole What is the overall effect of this image? 13. Describe the tone of these lines : “ If you could hear, at every jolt………as innocent tongues.” 14. How does this contrast with “ My friend, you would not tell ……..glory” 15. Why is “lie “ written with a capital letter? What is the lie?