Concetti Chiave
- Wilfred Owen is renowned for his poignant depiction of the horrors of war, using intense and tragic imagery to convey the senseless tragedy faced by young soldiers.
- His writing emphasizes the pity of war, encapsulating the emotional depth and futility of sending youth to battle, a theme central to his poetic works.
- Owen's influence came from his experiences in the trenches and his interactions with fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon, shaping his perspective and style.
- Despite his short life, Owen is regarded as the most significant of the "war poets," highlighting the brutal realities of warfare through his evocative poetry.
- The poem "Futility" reflects on the hopelessness and the unyielding nature of life and death, questioning the purpose of existence in the face of war's devastation.
Indice
The Original Poet and War
Wilfred Owen can be conidered perhaps the most original poet of the group of the War Poets (British writers and poets whose aim was to describe and tesify their experience in the WWI).As a matter of fact, he is able to describe the horrors of battles and the nightmares of shell shocks using tragic obsessive images. Then, he can move on with the medtation about the tragedy of young people who had to be sent to death.
This aspect can be seen in the preface of a volume he did not live enough to see being published, "My subject is War and the Pity of War. The poetry is in the Pity".
As a matter of fact, his literary work, Poems, was published in 1920 by his friend and poet Siegfried Sassoon because Owen died on the 4th of November 1918, one week before the end of the Great War, during the operation of the Sambre-Oise canal crossing, in France.
It is ironic that Owen took part of this mission, despite having the privilege of an unlimited license, because Sassoon had a head injury that did not allow him to continue his work as poet of the horrors of war so Owen took his place.
Of the two poems analyzed, only Read's can be considered a war poem, or rather a poem about the war. Neither of them, however, attains the intensity of Owen's poem Futility.
Who is Wilfred Owen and why he was so influent?
Wilfred Owen was born near the Welsh border on the 18th of March 1893.
His interest in literature led him to study French poetry in search of technical innovations.
In October 1915 he enlisted.
In December 1916 he was sent to France, and he spent the winter of 196-17 mainly in the trenches.
During a period of illness spent in a hospital near Edinburgh, he met and was deeply influenced by Siegfried Sassoon.
In October 1918, as a company commander, he was awarded the M.C. (Military Cross) for bravery.
He was killed in action in November 1918, a week before the armistice, while leading his men across a canal in Northern France.
He is now considered the most important of the "war poets".
Owen's Poem "Futility"
Move him into the sun—Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields half-sown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds,—
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved—still warm—too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?
This poem can be translated in Italian as such:
Spostalo al sole / - dove il suo tocco con delicatezza una volta l’ha destato, / a casa, con il bisbiglio dei campi poco seminati. / Lo ha sempre svegliato, anche in Francia, / fino a questa mattina e questa neve. / Se qualcosa dovesse crescere ora intorno a lui / il caro vecchio sole lo verrebbe a sapere. / Pensa a come risveglia i semi, / - ha svegliato, una volta, l’argilla di una fredda stella. / I fianchi, per cui si è faticato, sono appiattiti sui lati, / ancora pieni di nervi – ancora tiepidi - / troppo pesanti per essere girati? / È proprio per questo che la creta si è allungata? / O cosa ha reso del tutto vacua la fatica del raggio di sole / di infrangere il sonno della terra? /
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the central theme of Wilfred Owen's poetry as described in the text?
- How did Wilfred Owen's experiences and influences shape his work as a war poet?
- What distinguishes Owen's poem "Futility" from other war poems mentioned in the text?
The central theme of Wilfred Owen's poetry is the tragedy and pity of war. He focuses on the horrors of battle and the senseless loss of young lives, as highlighted in his preface, "My subject is War and the Pity of War. The poetry is in the Pity."
Wilfred Owen's experiences in the trenches and his time in a hospital near Edinburgh, where he met Siegfried Sassoon, deeply influenced his work. His firsthand experiences of war and the mentorship of Sassoon helped him develop a poignant and intense style, making him a significant figure among war poets.
Owen's poem "Futility" is distinguished by its intense emotional impact and meditation on the senselessness of life and death in war. Unlike other poems analyzed, "Futility" achieves a profound intensity, questioning the purpose of life and the cruel indifference of nature.
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