Strange meeting poem. A Short Analysis of Wilfred Owenâs âStrange Meetingâ 2022-10-28
Strange meeting poem Rating:
6,4/10
382
reviews
"Strange Meeting" is a poem by Wilfred Owen, a British soldier and poet who was killed in World War I. The poem was published posthumously in 1919 and is considered one of Owen's most famous works.
In "Strange Meeting," Owen describes a dreamlike encounter between two soldiers who are on opposing sides of the war. The speaker of the poem is a British soldier who finds himself in a subterranean world where he meets a German soldier. The two men are able to communicate with each other, despite the fact that they are enemies, and they begin to discuss the war and its aftermath.
The German soldier speaks first, expressing his frustration and despair at the futility of the war. He tells the British soldier that the conflict has torn apart both their countries, leaving behind only destruction and death. He also laments the fact that the soldiers are forced to fight against each other, when they could be working together to rebuild their nations.
The British soldier responds by acknowledging the German's pain and expressing his own sorrow at the loss of life and the destruction caused by the war. He too feels the weight of the conflict, and he wonders if the two sides will ever be able to find peace.
Throughout the poem, Owen uses vivid imagery to convey the horror and devastation of the war. The underground setting is a metaphor for the trenches and the darkness of the war, and the two soldiers are described as "dead" and "doubled" in the earth, suggesting their burial in the ground. The language is also full of violence and destruction, with words like "writhing," "sprawl," and "shudder" used to describe the soldiers' movements.
One of the most striking aspects of "Strange Meeting" is the way that it portrays the enemy soldiers as human beings, rather than as faceless adversaries. By allowing the German soldier to speak and express his feelings, Owen highlights the shared humanity of the two sides and the tragedy of their being pitted against each other. The poem also suggests that, if given the chance, the soldiers might be able to find common ground and work towards peace.
In conclusion, "Strange Meeting" is a powerful and poignant poem that captures the devastating impact of war on both individuals and nations. It is a poignant reminder of the cost of conflict and the importance of working towards peace.
A Short Analysis of Wilfred Owenâs âStrange Meetingâ
These lines are markedly different from the rest of the text in their plainness. The soldier says his hope is the same as the speaker's; he also tells him he once went hunting for beauty in the world, but that beauty made a mockery of time. Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were. Perhaps a simple rhyme scheme would be too easy for us. In line 8, the lifting of hands is a biblical allusion where religion would raise their hands in order to bless individuals and congregants. The definitive strangeness and lesson of their meeting is that it is equitable. Now that he is dead men will remain satisfied with those romantic notions which are responsible for the destruction of human lives through war.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels, I would go up and wash them from sweet wells, Even with truths that lie too deep for taint. Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels I would go up and wash them from sweet wells, Even with truths that lie too deep for taint. After one soldier rises up to acknowledge him, the speaker remarks of the stranger: With piteous recognition in fixed eyes, Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless. The poet suggests that the number of years the solder spent in trenches has made him weary. I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed. Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned, Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed. This other man tells the narrator that they both nurtured similar hopes and dreams, but they have both now died, unable to tell the living how piteous and hopeless war really is. It seemed that out of the battle I escaped Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped Through granites which Titanic wars had groined. Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were. The graphic use of imagery and language is both fantastic and real, emphasising the fact that this genre of poetry juxtaposes the natural and supernatural qualities of Romantic poetry.
Full text of the poem Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen. â The War Poets Gallery
Thus the meeting takes place in a strange spot-in hell. For by my glee might many men have laughed, And of my weeping something had been left, Which must die now. When men would learn through profuse bloodshed in war, the falsity of their vain romantic ideals about war would be shattered. The pictures of war drawn by his suggestive words fill the readers with profound pity ; 'pity of war' is the subject of his poetry. As a matter of fact, the modern war is far more destructive than the ancient war as it has adopted the use of technology. Whatever hope is yours, Was my life also; I went hunting wild After the wildest beauty in the world, Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair, But mocks the steady running of the hour, And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
Ă Ans: In Wilfred Owen's "Strange Meeting" in response to the address of the poet, the dead German soldier lifts his hands and it seems to the poet a gesture of blessing because the poet thinks that the dead German soldier is blessing him for being killed by the poet and thereby relieved from the pains of the limitless bloodshed and inhuman massacre of gory battle field. Was my life also; I went After the Which lies not calm in eyes, or But And if it grieves, For by my glee And of my Which must die now. There is the world aboveâthe chaotic, noisy expansiveness of the battlefieldâand the world belowâa quiet sanctuaryâ, where the soldiers find themselves. Dante and Shelley are two of the most readily identifiable. .
Wilfred Owen: Poems âStrange Meetingâ Summary and Analysis
He says that the blind pursuit of war expedites only the retrogressive march of the nation to savagery and the consequent destruction. Most of the words are monosyllabic and, out of context, are rather straightforward. The contrasted registers seem, interestingly and awkwardly, to conduct their own battle for the poem. I parried; but my hands were loath and cold. I would have poured my spirit without stint But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
What is Wilfred Owen's attitude in the poem "Strange Meeting"? Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were. That they are too fast in death to be disturbed suggests that this is their proper place to be burdened by death, especially since it is far more peaceful to die in the dreamlike underground than in the battle raging above. It seemed that out of the battle I escaped Down some Through Yet also Too fast in Then, as I With Lifting And by his smile, I knew that By his dead With a Yet no And no guns thumped, or down the 'Strange, friend,' I said, 'Here is no 'None,' said the other, 'Save the The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours, 17Was my life also; I went hunting wild 18After the wildest beauty in the world, 19Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair, 20But mocks the steady running of the hour, 21And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here. This smile makes the soldier-poet realize that this is hell.
Appropriateness of the title of the poem "Strange Meeting"
For example, in the line "Lifting distressful hands as if to bless". Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled. Now men will go content with what we spoiled. He foresaw the whole world marching in broken ranks away from progress. Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
When and how would the dead German soldier inform the people the truth underlying war? The new man killed the second man the day before, they were enemies then but now it's time to sleep. This is also a strange-the abode of the dead. Now men will go content with what we spoiled. Ă He began his poetic career with Keats and Tennyson as his models. The emphasis in Owen's work on truth and dreams also resonates of Keats'.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,â By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell. He knows the truth of what he did, which is "the pity of war, the pity war distilled", but now he can never share it. Eliot referred to "Strange Meeting" as a "technical achievement of great originality" and "one of the most moving pieces of verse inspired by the war. So it was Shelly that inspired Owen to write this bleak mini-epic. Works Cited Owen, Wilfred. Here there is an allusion to the forehead of Christ bleeding because of the crown of thorn thrust upon his head. The plainness of the lines also serves to deafen and shorten the prose, a reflection of how the strange soldier must sound as he succumbs to death.
.djvu/page13-1024px-Poems_(Owen%2C_1920).djvu.jpg)
