Exposure
Overview:
★ About soldiers in the trenches of WWI who are awake at night, fearing an enemy attack
○ Highlights the reality of war - the tedium + monotony
○ Focuses on loneliness, mental trauma, nervous waiting
★ However, nature’s harsh conditions seem to be their main enemy
○ Weather is described as “merciless”
○ Unusual war poem in that it doesn’t contain battle between soldiers, the war is
between the soldiers and severe weather conditions
★ Men imagine returning home but believing that sacrificing themselves in war is the only way of
keeping loved ones at home safe
★ They then return to thinking about their deaths in the icy, bleak trenches
★ Owen wants readers to understand the intensity of waiting during battle and the effect this has
on soldiers’ mental states
○ Alongside the anticlimactic let down that comes when nothing happens
“But nothing happens”
Title: “Exposure”
➔ Hints at a truth and reality of war being uncovered + revealed to british public (exposing
reality of war - it’s not glorious, it’s horrific and mentally agonising)
◆ Could also refer to the vulnerability of the soldiers + the threat they face both from the
enemy + from weather conditions
“The merciless iced east winds that knive us”
➔ Blunt + powerful statement personifies nature
◆ Suggests the weather is relentless and unforgiving, causing the men physical pain as
if it is attacking them
“Worried by silence, senties whisper, curious, nervous”
➔ Adjectives eg. “worried” “nervous” highlights the mental trauma of war
◆ Perhaps surprising for the reader who associates battle with physical suffering
◆ Wilfred Owen is uncovering the reality - the majority of physical pain is caused by the
weather + mental pain from the ceaseless waiting and anticipation that gives the men
time to contemplate + dwell on harsh truth of their situation
➔ Use of commas helps to slow the pace down - may reflect the boredom of the wait + the
anxiety the anxiety of the anticipation / suspense
“But nothing happens”
➔ Short, simple half line underlines is anticlimactic - boredom + tension
◆ The men endure persistent agitation + still there is no action
Simile to describe the personified weather: “like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”
➔ “Agonies” emphasises the pain the weather is causing
➔ Term “brambles” links to the idea of men trapped in barbed wire - reflects the power of the
weather and allows the reader to empathise with the extent of pain caused by nature
◆ Underlines the power of nature - it’s able to trap soldiers in this inexorable cycle of
pain and suffering
“Incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles”
➔ Assonance and onomatopoeia - create vivid aural description
◆ “Incessantly” once again reflects the monotony
, ◆ + disconnection from events as a result of everything they have encountered“Like a
dull rumour of some other war”
➔ Feelings of detachment + isolation
◆ Speaker feels disconnected due to being left to face the tedium of waiting for action
◆ As if he isn’t part of the war - these soldiers are fighting their own battle against
nature not against the enemy
“What are we doing here?”
➔ Rhetorical question - soldiers begin to question/challenge their purpose (forces reader to do
the same)
◆ Highlights mental torment + deterioration of mental state when left to fight harsh and
relentless conditions + when always tense and weary of danger
“The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow…”
➔ Suggests the arrival of a new day is unwelcome + depressing for soldiers
◆ Dread another day - perhaps because they’re no longer guarded by the security +
darkness of the night
● Are now even more vulnerable and exposed in the daylight
◆ Dawn often signifies hope but in the discomfort of war, it means another day to face
suffering
● Another example of the inescapable cycle of torment that soldiers are in
Description of dawn approaching “Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”
➔ Personified as it “attacks” and is “massing in the east”
◆ Terminology often used to describe an army reinforces idea that nature is the main +
most aggressive enemy
◆ Typically, dawn sparks hope but during war it's another day for soldiers to risk death +
endure unimaginable suffering
➔ “Grey” - absence of colour sets depressing scene - battlefield is cold and lifeless
◆ Grey was also colour of german uniforms so aligns nature with the enemy
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
➔ Sibiance - mimics the way bullets fly through the air
◆ Makes poem more vivid so the reader can fully immerse themselves in the fear +
distress of what soldiers experience
“Air that shudders black with snow”
➔ Snow - typically connotes purity
◆ However, it’s plagued with “black” - could symbolise how in these harsh
circumstances, innocence + happiness are overcome by evil and death
● Inexorable force of death
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”
➔ Snowflakes are personified - as if they’re maliciously seeking out + attacking the men
◆ Highlights physical impact of the weather and the pain it causes
“Snow-dazed” + “sun-dozed”
➔ Neologisms - words that Owen has made up
◆ Half-rhyme of these neologisms creates a link between their current situation
(enduring horrific weather conditions) + their dreams of the past (where they were
able to enjoy beauty and warmth of nature)
● Coping mechanism for soldiers - provides them with some comfort
Overview:
★ About soldiers in the trenches of WWI who are awake at night, fearing an enemy attack
○ Highlights the reality of war - the tedium + monotony
○ Focuses on loneliness, mental trauma, nervous waiting
★ However, nature’s harsh conditions seem to be their main enemy
○ Weather is described as “merciless”
○ Unusual war poem in that it doesn’t contain battle between soldiers, the war is
between the soldiers and severe weather conditions
★ Men imagine returning home but believing that sacrificing themselves in war is the only way of
keeping loved ones at home safe
★ They then return to thinking about their deaths in the icy, bleak trenches
★ Owen wants readers to understand the intensity of waiting during battle and the effect this has
on soldiers’ mental states
○ Alongside the anticlimactic let down that comes when nothing happens
“But nothing happens”
Title: “Exposure”
➔ Hints at a truth and reality of war being uncovered + revealed to british public (exposing
reality of war - it’s not glorious, it’s horrific and mentally agonising)
◆ Could also refer to the vulnerability of the soldiers + the threat they face both from the
enemy + from weather conditions
“The merciless iced east winds that knive us”
➔ Blunt + powerful statement personifies nature
◆ Suggests the weather is relentless and unforgiving, causing the men physical pain as
if it is attacking them
“Worried by silence, senties whisper, curious, nervous”
➔ Adjectives eg. “worried” “nervous” highlights the mental trauma of war
◆ Perhaps surprising for the reader who associates battle with physical suffering
◆ Wilfred Owen is uncovering the reality - the majority of physical pain is caused by the
weather + mental pain from the ceaseless waiting and anticipation that gives the men
time to contemplate + dwell on harsh truth of their situation
➔ Use of commas helps to slow the pace down - may reflect the boredom of the wait + the
anxiety the anxiety of the anticipation / suspense
“But nothing happens”
➔ Short, simple half line underlines is anticlimactic - boredom + tension
◆ The men endure persistent agitation + still there is no action
Simile to describe the personified weather: “like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”
➔ “Agonies” emphasises the pain the weather is causing
➔ Term “brambles” links to the idea of men trapped in barbed wire - reflects the power of the
weather and allows the reader to empathise with the extent of pain caused by nature
◆ Underlines the power of nature - it’s able to trap soldiers in this inexorable cycle of
pain and suffering
“Incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles”
➔ Assonance and onomatopoeia - create vivid aural description
◆ “Incessantly” once again reflects the monotony
, ◆ + disconnection from events as a result of everything they have encountered“Like a
dull rumour of some other war”
➔ Feelings of detachment + isolation
◆ Speaker feels disconnected due to being left to face the tedium of waiting for action
◆ As if he isn’t part of the war - these soldiers are fighting their own battle against
nature not against the enemy
“What are we doing here?”
➔ Rhetorical question - soldiers begin to question/challenge their purpose (forces reader to do
the same)
◆ Highlights mental torment + deterioration of mental state when left to fight harsh and
relentless conditions + when always tense and weary of danger
“The poignant misery of dawn begins to grow…”
➔ Suggests the arrival of a new day is unwelcome + depressing for soldiers
◆ Dread another day - perhaps because they’re no longer guarded by the security +
darkness of the night
● Are now even more vulnerable and exposed in the daylight
◆ Dawn often signifies hope but in the discomfort of war, it means another day to face
suffering
● Another example of the inescapable cycle of torment that soldiers are in
Description of dawn approaching “Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”
➔ Personified as it “attacks” and is “massing in the east”
◆ Terminology often used to describe an army reinforces idea that nature is the main +
most aggressive enemy
◆ Typically, dawn sparks hope but during war it's another day for soldiers to risk death +
endure unimaginable suffering
➔ “Grey” - absence of colour sets depressing scene - battlefield is cold and lifeless
◆ Grey was also colour of german uniforms so aligns nature with the enemy
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
➔ Sibiance - mimics the way bullets fly through the air
◆ Makes poem more vivid so the reader can fully immerse themselves in the fear +
distress of what soldiers experience
“Air that shudders black with snow”
➔ Snow - typically connotes purity
◆ However, it’s plagued with “black” - could symbolise how in these harsh
circumstances, innocence + happiness are overcome by evil and death
● Inexorable force of death
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”
➔ Snowflakes are personified - as if they’re maliciously seeking out + attacking the men
◆ Highlights physical impact of the weather and the pain it causes
“Snow-dazed” + “sun-dozed”
➔ Neologisms - words that Owen has made up
◆ Half-rhyme of these neologisms creates a link between their current situation
(enduring horrific weather conditions) + their dreams of the past (where they were
able to enjoy beauty and warmth of nature)
● Coping mechanism for soldiers - provides them with some comfort
