Purpose:

Why poetry as a medium?

Learning intention: I can Identify Owen's thematic concerns and purpose within his poetry

Success Criteria:

I can identify the main concerns in Owen's poetry
I can make connections between Owen's purpose and how this is presented in his poetry

Owen’s war poetry is so different to the poems around that time. The fundamental difference lies in his perspective and purpose. Owen had changed his attitude, he no longer tried to obtain verbal beauty, he now wrote to tell the truth about modern war. His poetry became a warning about what men were doing to each other.

He saw his role now: to make others ‘see’. His new truth was his experience of war. Having been in the trenches he could no longer linger in the beauty of poetry, rather, he used it to expose the brutality, and truth of war.

However, Owen had a vision of war that extended far beyond the anger, bloodshed and agony he re-created so vividly. He sought to expose the traditional view of war as ‘noble’, as seen in the poetry and propaganda of the time, and to do this he had to depict the horrors he experienced; death, madness and mutilation.

It is important to note that Owen did not dwell of these horrors for their own sake. They served his vision; the facts of war, and the human experience. He speaks about what it meant to be on the Western Front in WWI, and also what it means to be a man. His poems help us see, and feel, the suffering of the individual intimately, but also makes us aware of the tragedy of the human condition. What man can do to man.

Purpose of Poetry

Poetry is a form of creative writing that exists in cultures around the world. It can be challenging for some students to understand why poetry is important. Teachers can give a variety of responses to this question that help feed into how poetry is taught in the first place. Poetry is connected to aesthetics, or anything that is beautiful in the world. It can also help increase cultural awareness, as the poetry of a culture offers insight into that culture's history and values. Poetry can also help writers express their emotions and can in turn help readers connect to those emotions.

Poets:

Write poetry to help see more clearly, to communicate more genuinely and to embrace moments in life.
evoke an emotional response in the reader through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm

Activity: What is the purpose of poetry? How would you connect this to Owen's poetry?

Analysing Poetry

Activity:

Watch the clip below on analysing poetry- what are 4 insights you have gained about how we deconstruct language for meaning in poetry?

Purpose of Owen's Modernist Poetry

Owen’s didn’t want to glorify war, or write about heroes. He says his concern was WAR, and the ‘Pity of War’.

He spoke about the men sent into the battlefield, and in describing their experience, he challenged the public perception of war a the time.
He criticises the horror and violence of war, the ‘universal pervasion of ugliness.’
He relived his nightmares in verse as a form of catharsis (outlet for negative emotions- think trauma)
There is a general feeling in Owen’s poetry that things can be resolved without the brutality of war. He sought to explore the potential of humanity, and expose man's constant urge for destruction.
He looks at the psychological effects of war on men –the survivalist approach kill or be killed.
His poems also reveal the absolute bond amongst the men in War – otherwise known at mateship, strong affiliation to and brotherhood.
He even went back to the front (and his death) because he felt the men needed him, and he could not speak for them, unless he had experienced their suffering – this is how passionate he was about his subject – War.

Owen’s poetry is called ‘didactic’ because he wanted to teach, inform, awake and enlighten.
War disgusted him and he wanted to show how it dehumanises man through its utter destruction and brutality.
Owen wanted to convey the soldier’s perspective to inform the naive audiences on the homefront. The irony and satire in his poetry shows his bitterness towards civilian judgement of war from the comfort of their homes – especially those who promote it.
He sought to enlighten the general public about the sacrifices, ugliness, and barbarity of war.
Public awareness to this injustice and ignorance was his ultimate purpose.

Activity: Under a heading of Purposeful Phrases- dot point 5 points on Owen's purpose and write the phrases in bold as part of your glossary.

Poetry in Action

Activity: Complete the following questions on the poems below. Create short answer responses for questions 1-3 and a PEEEL for Question 4.

Compare Owen’s poetry to Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and Rupert Brooks’ “The Soldier.” How does each poet write about war?
Is Lord Tennyson a modernist? Justify (tell me why/why not) your reasoning.
Compare Owen’s poems to the works of his friend Siegfried Sassoon. Are there any differences in their approaches to describing the war?
Read how Wilfred Owen differs from other poets and write a PEEL which compares a poem of
Owen's to a poem below. Use a TEEE from each poem selected.

Owen comparison poems .docx

How does Wilfred Owen's poetry differ from other poets at the time?

Wilfred Owen's portrayal of war differs significantly from many other poets of his time in several key ways:

Stark realism: Owen depicted the brutal realities of war with unflinching honesty, eschewing romanticised or glorified portrayals. He used vivid, often disturbing imagery to convey the horrors of the battlefield.
Focus on psychological impact: Owen explored the devastating psychological toll of war on soldiers, portraying trauma, disillusionment, and mental anguish in poems like "Mental Cases".
Critique of propaganda: He directly challenged the patriotic rhetoric and propaganda that encouraged young men to enlist, exposing what he called "the old lie" in poems like "Dulce et Decorum Est".
Empathy for fellow soldiers: Owen's poetry demonstrates deep compassion for his fellow soldiers, humanising them rather than presenting them as heroic archetypes.
Technical innovation: He employed complex sound patterns and experimental techniques that went beyond the versification of many of his contemporaries.
Emphasis on futility: Owen highlighted the senselessness and waste of war, contrasting sharply with poems that celebrated martial glory or patriotic sacrifice.
Personal experience: Drawing directly from his own traumatic experiences in the trenches, Owen brought an authenticity to his work that set it apart from poets who wrote about war from a distance.
Universal themes: While grounded in the specifics of World War I, Owen's poetry touched on universal aspects of human suffering and the tragedy of conflict.

By combining these elements, Owen created a body of work that stood out from many of his contemporaries, offering a more nuanced, critical, and emotionally resonant portrayal of war. His poetry served not just as a record of events, but as a powerful indictment of war itself.

What does Owen say about poetry?

Owen famously said about war and poetry-

'All a poet can do today is warn'

"If I have got to be a solider, I must be a good one, anything else is unthinkable"

"My subject is War, and the pity of War. The poetry is in the pity."

"Never fear. Thank Home and Poetry, and the Force behind both."

Activtiy: select one of the quotes above and explain how you would use it in an essay.

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