Analysis of Wilfred Owen Poems
Wilfred Owen Poems
MINERS (Page 75)
There had been a terrible accident at a place called Podmore Hall Colliery (1918). 140 miners and pit-boys died
Owen wrote in a letter that he thought this poem had ‘sour’ taste. He also said that if the poem were to have a subtitle it would be: ‘How the future will forget the dead in war.’ This would be its epigraph
Soldiers and miners are similar in that they both risk their lives
General strike in 1926 because miners didn’t get paid enough for the job the did. Wilson is comparing this ingratitude of the people at home who reap the rewards of the miners’ labour, to the ingratitude of the people towards the soldiers who die on their behalf
Soldiers, as with miners, spent most of their time underground
Section 1 (Stanzas 1 to 3)
Idea that the coal in the fire was formed millions of years ago
Owen is in a reverie (pleasant daydream), thinking back to the time when it was formed. He imagines the coal is ‘grown wistful’, nostalgic of when it was formed
‘Whispering’ is a very effective onomatopoeia of fire
Stanza one is a very cozy scene, yet it seems sad: ‘sigh of the coal’
In Stanza 2 Owen tries to remember what earth was like before it was contaminated by humans
‘Sly’ suggests hidden/disguised
‘fawn’ is a half man/half goat mystical creature
Stanza 2 is about hearing, Stanza 3 is about seeing
Time is personified as a magician who, through the medium of the fire, is going to conjure up images of pre-human earth ‘before the birds made nests’
Section 2 (Stanzas 4 to 5)
Main idea is a sudden abrupt shift into imagining the present reality of the bones of dead miners underground
Sense of devastation: ‘many hearts with coal are charred’. Many peoples lives have been affected by mining accidents
The miners are ‘writhing for air’
‘Wry’ normally means ironic, humorous
Owen has misunderstood the sound the coal is making. Whilst it is soft and gentle it is also direct and urgent. It is as though the coal is
MINERS (Page 75)
There had been a terrible accident at a place called Podmore Hall Colliery (1918). 140 miners and pit-boys died
Owen wrote in a letter that he thought this poem had ‘sour’ taste. He also said that if the poem were to have a subtitle it would be: ‘How the future will forget the dead in war.’ This would be its epigraph
Soldiers and miners are similar in that they both risk their lives
General strike in 1926 because miners didn’t get paid enough for the job the did. Wilson is comparing this ingratitude of the people at home who reap the rewards of the miners’ labour, to the ingratitude of the people towards the soldiers who die on their behalf
Soldiers, as with miners, spent most of their time underground
Section 1 (Stanzas 1 to 3)
Idea that the coal in the fire was formed millions of years ago
Owen is in a reverie (pleasant daydream), thinking back to the time when it was formed. He imagines the coal is ‘grown wistful’, nostalgic of when it was formed
‘Whispering’ is a very effective onomatopoeia of fire
Stanza one is a very cozy scene, yet it seems sad: ‘sigh of the coal’
In Stanza 2 Owen tries to remember what earth was like before it was contaminated by humans
‘Sly’ suggests hidden/disguised
‘fawn’ is a half man/half goat mystical creature
Stanza 2 is about hearing, Stanza 3 is about seeing
Time is personified as a magician who, through the medium of the fire, is going to conjure up images of pre-human earth ‘before the birds made nests’
Section 2 (Stanzas 4 to 5)
Main idea is a sudden abrupt shift into imagining the present reality of the bones of dead miners underground
Sense of devastation: ‘many hearts with coal are charred’. Many peoples lives have been affected by mining accidents
The miners are ‘writhing for air’
‘Wry’ normally means ironic, humorous
Owen has misunderstood the sound the coal is making. Whilst it is soft and gentle it is also direct and urgent. It is as though the coal is