Exposure Flashcards
(7 cards)
Poem summary
“Exposure” explores the harsh conditions faced by soldiers during World War I, particularly those on the Western Front. Instead of focusing on combat, the poem highlights the weather as the real enemy—freezing winds, snow, and icy rain slowly killing the soldiers.
The poem shows how the soldiers are left to wait in trenches, slowly losing hope and faith. They suffer from cold, fear, and boredom, not just from enemy fire.
Context
Wilfred Owen was a British soldier and poet during World War I.
He wrote “Exposure” in 1917, inspired by his real experiences in the trenches in France.
Owen wanted to show the truth of war—not the heroic image often portrayed, but the real suffering soldiers went through.
“our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
Personification of the wind shows how brutal nature is, as dangerous as any weapon.
It suggests that war affects not just the body, but also the mind, leading to psychological torment.
The wind is described as “kniving” the soldiers, like a weapon. This metaphor compares the wind to a knife, making nature feel as dangerous as enemy gunfire.
This shows that nature is more threatening than the enemy soldiers
“but nothing happens”
Repeated throughout the poem to highlight boredom, waiting
Nothing changes, no battles occur, and they are left just to wait and suffer, which shows how pointless and wasteful war can
The repetition creates a feeling of boredom, anxiety, and despair.
The soldiers are not being killed in battle—they are slowly being broken down by the waiting and the weather, which is a mental form of torture.
“all their eyes are ice”
Death - The phrase refers to the frozen bodies of dead soldiers. Their eyes have turned to ice, showing how the extreme cold has literally killed them.
It’s a metaphor for how nature—not bullets—is what caused their deaths.
emotional numbness - The line can also suggest that the surviving soldiers have become emotionally frozen.
They are so traumatized and exhausted that they feel nothing anymore—like their emotions have been “frozen” over by constant exposure to death and suffering.
“for love of God seems dying”
loss of faith - The soldiers are beginning to lose their belief in God because of the extreme suffering, cold, and death around them.
They feel abandoned, as if God no longer cares or is no longer present on the battlefield
Dying” suggests that something once alive—faith or hope in God’s love—is now fading away or being extinguished.
“the poignant misery of dawn begins to grow”
dawn brings misery - Normally, dawn symbolizes hope, a new beginning, or light after darkness.
But here, it brings “misery” instead—showing how even natural events that are usually positive have become painful during war.
The word “poignant” means something that causes deep sadness or distress.
This suggests that the soldiers aren’t just physically cold and tired—they are emotionally drained and broken as well.
