1st March 2018

Wilfred Owen – Exposure

The main theme of Wilfred Owens poem “Exposure” is the solders response to the extreme cold weather they experience, references include: “Merciless iced east winds that knive us”, “mad gusts tugging on the wire”, “rain soaks and clouds sag stormy”, “the air that shudders black with snow”, “sidelong flowing flakes that flock”, “pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”, “stare snow-dazed”, “cringe in holes”, Tonight, this frost will fasten on this mud and us, Shrivelling many hands, and puckering foreheads crisp. The burying-party, picks and shovels in shaking grasp, Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice”. These references tell me that these men were stuck in an incredibly cold environment for days on end with little to no shelter, most of whom had not faced such conditions before. This lead to many of the men losing hope and destroying their ideas of the heroism that comes with fighting for your country.

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Writing