exposure by wilfred owen describes the
poet's world war one experience in
trench warfare
in the opening stanza the poet explains
how the soldiers brains are aching
in the freezing cold wind that is
hitting them they're tired but have to
stay awake on watch
flares flying through the air confuse
their memories of the position they're
in
they're worried by the lack of sound
they whisper they're scared
but nothing happens much of the poem
follows this format
until the poet begins to question the
point of it all ultimately owen
determines that the soldiers are there
because they believe that going to war
is the only way to ensure that a loving
domestic life will continue their
children will also continue to be
brought up happy
healthy and protected let me just point
out this video is a quick recap of the
poem to learn more watch my full
analysis
which i'll link at the end wilfred owen
was born in 1893
joined the british army in 1915 and died
in battle on november the 4th
1918. he originally pursued a career in
the church
but gave up on that when he felt that
the church failed to care for those in
its locality
owen's poetry often focused on the
futility or pointlessness
of war as part of this presentation of
war as futile owen wants readers to
understand the intensity of waiting
during battle
and the anticlimactic letdown that comes
when nothing happens
soldiers lived on adrenaline for long
periods of time resulting in shell shock
and combat stress reaction it's not just
that nothing happened
it's that the soldiers were on full
alert with heightened senses
knowing that something could have
happened at any moment to represent this
owen structures each stanza in the same
way
we'll look closely at stanza one as an
example
each stanza begins with a blunt and
powerful sentence
our brains ache in the merciless iced
east winds that knife us
these opening sentences are then
followed by highly emotive vocabulary
choices
wearied low drooping confused worried
curious and nervous
crucially after dramatically heightening
the tension
each stanza ends with an anti-climax but
nothing happens
this three-part structure is found in
each stanza
the rhyme scheme is a b b a c
the way in which the first four lines
establish a rhyme pattern
only for it to be broken down in the
final line reflects the building
momentum and anticipation of battle
which is never realized the rhyme scheme
stays this way throughout the whole poem
with its repetitive nature reflecting
the repetitive
and futile situation the soldiers are in
just as the poem stays the same
so does the situation for the soldiers
they are stuck in the cold
waiting however the rhymes in exposure
are not full rhymes and that reflects
the unease of the situation
the poet employs what is known as
pararhyme this is where two end of line
words contain the same consonant sounds
but not the same vowels consider the
only four lines which you can see here
on screen we can see that nivis is a
para rhyme with nervus
the consonant sounds and are the same
even though the vowel sounds i and er
are different
the use of pararhyme gives a permanent
sense of being nervously on edge
the soldiers are denied the satisfaction
of full rhyme
forced to be incomplete and imperfect
the perfection and closure
of full rhyme is denied them owen uses
personification to highlight how weather
is more dangerous than the less deadly
bullets
there are numerous examples of this
winds that knives
mad gusts dawn massing in the east her
melancholy army
air that shudders pale flakes with
fingering stealth this overwhelming use
of personification
presents the notion that nature is more
deadly than the enemy soldiers
clearly there is very little difference
to the soldiers between the weather
and the enemy forces both are killing
them the ending of the poem is important
having established in the penultimate
verse that the soldiers see themselves
as a necessary sacrifice
to save the happy lives of the public
the poem ends with the contrasting
but nothing happens structurally the
poem ends as it began
with this refrain but nothing happens
and this repetition of ending
creates a cyclical structure the poem
ends up back where it started
highlighting again the futility of war
with that in mind which poems compare
well with exposure
well the futility of war is seen in
bayonet charge in the charge of the
light brigade and for the reality of war
we might add remains
and war photographer but which other
poems would you compare with exposure
put a comment in the comments section
for more on this poem pick up a copy of
mr bruff's guide to power on conflict
poetry
available exclusively in ebook form at
mrbruff.com
and it's linked in the description if
you like this shorter style of analysis
video
do give it a thumbs up and i'll make
some more but remember
this video isn't intended to tell you
everything you need to know about the
poem
it's a recap for revision purposes for
the full lesson
check out the video linked here on
screen