The sentry
THE SENTRY (January 1917)
The Sentry’ is a poem which grows directly out of an isolated incident in the trenches. It is wholly characteristic of Owen in that it focuses on the fate of one private soldier, the eponymous ‘sentry’ who is blinded and maimed by a ‘whizz-bang’. It is an extremely moving poem, for the focus is not only on the sentry’s pitiful reaction to his injuries, but also on Owen’s own haunted recollection of them.
The situation for the poem is ‘an old Boche dug-out’ which a party of English troops has taken, but not without being seen: consequently, it comes under enemy fire, ‘shell on frantic shell’ pounding its position. The co-opted dug-out is a ‘hell’ on earth, not only because of the artillery bombardment, but also because of the bad weather. It is raining heavily: into the dug-out pour ‘waterfalls of slime’ with the result that the men stand in ‘slush waist-high’ and cannot climb out. Even worse is the ‘murk of air’. In this genitive phrase, Owen adapts Lady Macbeth’s adjective (‘Hell is murky’) to his purpose; the dug-out is a hell-hole, not only because they cannot see through the smoke of the whizz-bangs, but also because of its olfactory sensations. It ‘stank old’; this combination of an Anglo-Saxon past tense and an adjectival adverb conveys the rank odour with a monosyllabic force. Owen’s language describes the conditions with verisimilitude; he suggests what it was like to cower and huddle in that enclosed space, its claustrophobic atmosphere redolent of the ‘fumes’ of cordite and the unhygienic ‘smell of men’, the German troops who had occupied that position for ‘years’ before vacating it.
Finally, one of the whizz-bangs hits its target, leaving them gasping for even a ‘sour’ breath of air. What happens next Owen records by means of onomatopoeic verbs. He accompanies the sentry’s entrance into the dug-out with a sequence of u-sounds: ‘thud! flump! thud!’. Down ‘the steep steps’ into their trench, he is said to come
The Sentry’ is a poem which grows directly out of an isolated incident in the trenches. It is wholly characteristic of Owen in that it focuses on the fate of one private soldier, the eponymous ‘sentry’ who is blinded and maimed by a ‘whizz-bang’. It is an extremely moving poem, for the focus is not only on the sentry’s pitiful reaction to his injuries, but also on Owen’s own haunted recollection of them.
The situation for the poem is ‘an old Boche dug-out’ which a party of English troops has taken, but not without being seen: consequently, it comes under enemy fire, ‘shell on frantic shell’ pounding its position. The co-opted dug-out is a ‘hell’ on earth, not only because of the artillery bombardment, but also because of the bad weather. It is raining heavily: into the dug-out pour ‘waterfalls of slime’ with the result that the men stand in ‘slush waist-high’ and cannot climb out. Even worse is the ‘murk of air’. In this genitive phrase, Owen adapts Lady Macbeth’s adjective (‘Hell is murky’) to his purpose; the dug-out is a hell-hole, not only because they cannot see through the smoke of the whizz-bangs, but also because of its olfactory sensations. It ‘stank old’; this combination of an Anglo-Saxon past tense and an adjectival adverb conveys the rank odour with a monosyllabic force. Owen’s language describes the conditions with verisimilitude; he suggests what it was like to cower and huddle in that enclosed space, its claustrophobic atmosphere redolent of the ‘fumes’ of cordite and the unhygienic ‘smell of men’, the German troops who had occupied that position for ‘years’ before vacating it.
Finally, one of the whizz-bangs hits its target, leaving them gasping for even a ‘sour’ breath of air. What happens next Owen records by means of onomatopoeic verbs. He accompanies the sentry’s entrance into the dug-out with a sequence of u-sounds: ‘thud! flump! thud!’. Down ‘the steep steps’ into their trench, he is said to come