Commentary: The Send Off ( WW1 Poetry)

October 3rd, 2014
Commentary: The Send Off
This poem, written by Wilfred Owens, describes a group of men going off to war, hence the title, “The Send Off.” Throughout the poem there is a gloomy and rundown attitude, coupled with matching descriptions, which is a drastic change to the earlier patriotic jingoistic poems about the war. In this poem, a more realistic, dismal attitude towards going off to war is taken. With elevated language and the haphazard rhyme scheme within the short stanzas, the poem nearly possesses a standard format, however the deviations match the message of a sort of reluctance to going off to war, and the war as a concept.
The first short stanza opens with a hard “d” sound of “down” almost immediately setting a dark atmosphere, and sets the scene for going off to war. With the description of “darkening lanes” not only is there alliteration with the first word “down”, but it also creates a gloomy effect from the very start of the poem. This is juxtaposed with the description “sang their way to the siding-shed.” Usually, when someone or something is described as singing, it has a positive connotation, however, here, coupled with the dismal attitude of the poem it could perhaps be interpreted as more of the last bits of patriotism appearing as moral diminishes. The last line of this first stanza creates a memorable image, calling the soldiers faces “grimly gay.” Not only is there alliteration of the “g” sound, calling attention to the phrase, but also the dichotomy of the two words, grim being more menacing and gay being extreme happiness, reveals the conflicting emotions the soldiers must be feeling. At this point in the war they know what they are getting into: the destruction and less that ideal conditions, however they are still expected to keep up the patriotic enthused attitude of going off to war and serving their country. The next single lined stanza continues the description of the soldiers, “Their breasts were stuck all white…As men’s are, dead.” This simile gives context to the lack of excitement these soldiers and other men are feeling as they go off to war, with extremely foreboding imagery. The third stanza opens with “Dull porters” emphasizing yet again the lack of enthusiasm in everyone at every stage of going off to war. To even further stress the sadness of the scene, Owen states that a “casual tramp stood staring hard.” The alliteration of hard sounds amplifies the description of a prostitute being present for what is supposed to be an honorable act. The next short, one-lined stanza and the one that follow, elude to the fact that the people around for this send-off are supposed to be patriotic and excited at the prospects of going off to war. Words and phrases such as “winked at the guard,” “secretly” and “wrongs hushed-up” suggest that the people are trying to hide their lack of enthusiasm, but also the secrecy of the war and how no one really knows what goes on in the front lines. This is seen in the following lines, “They were not ours: We never heard to which front these were sent.”
The poem then shifts to focusing on the future of these soldiers. It talks about the prospect of returning from the war and with much use of alliteration and repetition to draw attention and strengthen the point, reveals the grim truth. “Shall they return to beatings of great bells In wild train-loads? A few, a few, too few for drums and yells.” Not only is there a repetition of the “b” sound in “beatings and “bells” but there is also an A B A rhyme scheme, which makes this selection of rhymes stand out even more. In the last line of the stanza, the extreme repetition of “few” reemphasizes the dismal truth that not many of the men will return from the war. This honest point of view demonstrating, yet again, the loss of patriotism as the war progressed. The last stanza of this poem, and line, continues the story of the few men that came back from war. This sentence very simply describes how the few soldiers who do survive go unnoticed by the world around them, “May creep back, silent, to village wells Up half-known roads.” Words and phrases such as “creep back,” “silent” provide imagery of men completely unnoticed attempting to find their way in the real world, keeping with the brutal honesty of this poem, and ending on the epitome of un-patriotic.
This poem, through the use of a lot of alliteration and short, broken up, sad stanzas, shows the lack of patriotism possessed by civilians at this stage in the war, and the overall bleak outlook of the subject. It describes the people and surroundings before going to war, and the melancholy future these soldiers may not even have a chance to fulfill.