Wilfred Owen Poetry

Owen Wilson’s poetry is based around the false glory of war and the true brutality of the experiences the soldiers faced while at battle. These ideas and experiences are represented in the poem’s Mental Cases and Disabled effectively as they discuss the physical and mental burdens the soldiers faced returning home from battle through the use of poetic techniques.
Mental Cases revolves around the victims of shell shock and their experiences of never truly leaving the war. The use of oxymoron’s, hyperboles and alliteration effectively demonstrate the horrific experiences these soldiers can never mentally leave behind. The oxymoron ‘slow panic’ emphasizes the terrifying experiences that helped cause the soldier’s mental collapse. This allows the readers a chance to visualise the inhuman battles these soldiers fought and images that are constantly etched in their minds. This image is further stressed with the hyperbole that follows. The use of ‘chasms’ describes the expression upon the soldier’s face whilst reliving these nightmares. This gives the readers a visual image of their frenzied appearance. Owen continues to paint the pain on their faces and emphasize the effect of these experiences on what once were brave soldiers with alliteration further in the poem. Alliteration is coupled with juxtaposition in ‘hilarious, hideous’ to describe the soldier’s smiles to portray how the expressions on the soldier’s face is somewhat comedic as it is almost unbelievable yet the seriousness of the shell shock makes it hideous as this soldier is in excruciating pain – he is haunted. The use of this juxtaposition creates an even more confronting image to the audience as they realise the extent of the mental condition.
Owen effectively describes the mental burdens these suffering soldiers face post-war and creates a bitter tone as the readers are partially to blame. The word ‘Always’ is used to highlight the everlasting mind horrors these men are faced with even after the war.