Exposure

Poet

WILFRED OWEN

Context

• This poem was written during World War I.
• It depicts the horrific conditions of war.
• Owen wanted to show the reality of war in contrast to the propaganda that was being feed to the British nation at home.

Plot

• The poem is about the experience of men living in the trenches.
• They are waiting for the German enemies to act yet nothing seems to be taking place.
• The true conflict lies between the soldiers and poor weather conditions.
• They long to return home but will likely face a slow and painful death in No Man’s Land.

Form

• Repetition
• Refrain ‘But nothing happens’
• Caesura
• Ellipsis

Structure

• Eight stanzas
• Rhyming
• Half and para-rhyme, making the reader force the sound

Language

• Personification
• Simile
• Rhetorical question
• Repetition
• Metaphor

Tone

• Pride
• Patriotic
• Respect

Themes

• Power of humans
• Power of nature
• War
• Death
• Religion
• Education