Exposure

Question 1

“Our b a, i t m i e w t k u…” - first line

Answer 1

“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”

• “our brains ache” - emphasises the physical pain and discomfort (being attacked ‘knive us’
  ^ war is causing the soldiers both physical and psychological pain
• nature appears to be ruthless, and more powerful than the opposing humans (germans)
• written in first person plural (e.g. “Our”, “we”, “us” - this collective voice/ use of collective pronouns show how the experience was shared by soldiers across the war and every soldier/human is suffering under nature itself (sense of universal unity)
• use of elipses - suggests the elongated sense of time - passing slowly (monotonous nature of thr men’ experience)

Question 2

“B n h.” - repeated phrase

Answer 2

“But nothing happens.”

This short, blunt sentence is repeated numerous times throughout the poem, becoming a kind of ironic refrain.
- refers literslly to the lack of military action - the long stretches of boredom and inactivity that characterise trench warfare
- however, alternatively this tskes on a deeper, existential meaning: suggesting the futility and meaninglessness of the soldiers’ suffering.
^ the simplicity of the phrase, juxtaposes the vivid descriptions of the soldiers’ pain, creating a sense of bitter irony - as if the poet is commenting on the ultimate pointlessness of their sacrifice.

Question 3

“Watching, w h t m g t o t w,”

Answer 3

“Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire,”

• sensory imagery suggests the soldiers are on high alert, but also makes them seem helpless/passive
• alliteration of “w” sound - shows a sense of quivering of sobbing, - cements soldiers’ misery - subtly questioning the purpose of war (like who, what when, where why) , and their own purpose in it
• personification of nature as “mad” -suggesting it is wild and unpredictable
• structurally: Caesura after “watching” - creates a break in the line perhaps symbolising the soldiers’ emotional and physical breakdown

Question 4

“the f g r, / F o, l a d r o s o w”

Answer 4

“the flickering gunnery rumbles, / Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war”

• onomatopoeia in “rumbl[ing]” - evokes war’s sense of violence and destruction
• “flickering gunnery” - Synaesthesia (mixing of senses) - flickering is to do with sight and visibility, whereas gunnery is to do with sound - shows how the soldiers are delirious and senses are mixed up
• “like a dull rumour of some other war” - this simile has religious imagery: biblical reference to the Armageddon/ end of the world = Jesus fortells the end of the world (Matthew 24:6) “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars” - suggets soldiers feel like its the end of the world.

Question 5

“S s f o b s t s / L d t t a t s b w s”

Answer 5

“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence / Less deathly than the air that shudders black with snow”

• “sudden” out of nowhere / unexpected
• sibilance - recreates the sounds of the bullets as they are whizzing past (creates a sinister tone)
• ^ due to it being a soft “s” sound, perhaps it shows that the speaker has been numbed and isnt afraid of death - it would be a welcome relief from the terrible situation they are in. - sense of solitude
• despite the bullets being portrayed as “flights” (fast) - nature and the cold appears to still be more “deathly”

Question 6

Use of regular rhyme scheme (ABBAC), however mostly half-rhymes (significance?)

Answer 6

• shows the monotonous nature of thr men’s experience
• the half rhymes (e.g “snow” “renew”) offer no comfort or satisfaction - the rhymed are jagged like the reality of the men’s experience.

Question 7

8 stanzas, but the last stanza ends the same as the first. Significance?

Answer 7

• no real progression, first and last stanza end with “But nothing happens” - reflecting the monotony of life in the trenches and the absence of change
  ^ showing the men’s efforts as futile - they question this rhetorically (“What are we doing here?”

Question 8

“For love of God is dying”

Answer 8

• questioning religion
• ambiguous: could mean that their love for God is disappearing, OR that they feel that God’s love for them is dying

Question 9

Context + poet’s message/s

Answer 9

• wilfred owen was a WW1 soldier
  ^ traumatised as he was hit by a bomb shell (1917
• suffered from PTSD - was sent to hospital and started writing in there
• war was glorified at the time - but it was all a lie and propaganda
  ^ used his poetry to expose the true brutal reality of war - wilfred owen once said “Above all, I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War.”
  Wanted to expose the futility of war