LibGuides: Close Study of Wilfred Owen: Literary techniques & Influences

Literary devices

An overview of Owen's use of language, tone and structure in specific poems:

* Exposure

* Anthem for Doomed Youth

* Disabled

* The Last Laugh

* Dulce Et Decorum Est

* A Terre

Owen the Poet

Owen's Main Influences

While suffering from shellshock in a hospital near Edinburgh, Owen met a fellow poet named Siegfried Sasson who first wrote intense and realistic war poetry. Sasson’s use of satiric realism was a useful tone of voice with Owen often imitated in his poetry. Owen’s most famous poems such as Dulce et Decorum Est show direct results of Sassoon’s influence....continue reading...

Useful links

What is war poetry?
Poets have written about the experience of war since the Greeks, but the young soldier poets of the First World War established war poetry as a literary genre. Their combined voice has become one of the defining texts of Twentieth Century Europe...
War Poetry
This article examines the concept of war poetry and considers the range of poetic responses generated by the Great War from an international perspective.
What War Poetry Means For Today’s Veterans
War poetry, regardless of the era from which it originated, captures themes that carry across generations. It also seeks to create new language, which later generations use as a framework for understanding war history.

Close Study of Wilfred Owen

Literary devices

Owen the Poet

Useful links

World War One Poetry