Wilfred Owen Exposure Essay

The natural world is a recurring theme in Wilfred Owen’s poetry. It is used to draw attention to the brutalities of war. In the poem “Exposure”, Owen portrays the natural world as their enemy in war. With the poem set in the Western Front in 1917, Owen depicts the barbarous conditions that soldiers had to go through during one of the worst winters Britain has ever faced. Thus, Owen represents the difficulty of war as exacerbated by the weather. The poem highlights how the soldiers were exposed emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically to the atrocities related to war. Nature is also alluded to in “Futility” which was written in May 1918, where Owen describes the power of the sun as a source of life for the dead soldier. Furthermore, in Owen’s last poem “Spring Offensive”, he illustrates how nature provides relief for the men. In contrast
Throughout his poetry, nature is portrayed to be a powerful force when paired with war and this is highlighted in many similar and differing ways throughout his poems.
Nature is conveyed through a negative lens in “Exposure”. The title itself indicates that he will be exposing the truth. In this case, the word has double the meaning. The first meaning is that the war was not the only reason causing death, but the weather was also a huge element; here it’s the exposure to severe cold. The second meaning is that he is exposing the myth that fighting for your country is glamorous. He exposes the lie of the government propaganda that patriotism is noble and honourable and this must be expressed through fighting for one’s country. Moreover, it induces a sense of nakedness and uncovering, which implies that soldier at war are vulnerable. Owen opens the poem with an aniti-romantic stanza. He uses personification and pathetic fallacy to describe the weather which strongly conveys his