Futility-Wilfred Owen If something is futile, it is …
Sun imagery-a metaphor Underline 5 things that the sun does in the poem
Owen was a WW1 war poet. Wilfred Owen’s shocking, realistic poetry on the horrors of war contradicted the public’s perception of the war. He was killed a week before the war ended; news of his death reaching his parents as the town's church bells declared peace.
Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. 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?
Language… Group 1 Personification ‘’ 2 Assonance ‘’ 3 repetition
structure what do you notice about the poem? Consider- Start End Rhyme/rhythm Verse Stanza mood
What does the poem’s title indicate about Owen’s attitude to war? Think about how the mood of the two stanzas differs.
"All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful."