Arms and the Boy (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Wilfred Owen
- First Published: 1920
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Europe or Europeans, England or English people, War, Death or dying, World War I, Youth, Soldiers, Boys, Victorian era or Victorianism, Arms or weapons
The Poem
The poetry of Wilfred Owen must be discussed in its historical context. Owen was one of a generation of British poets of World War I, an educated class of soldier-poets whose poetry can be divided into two distinct periods. The first period is roughly from 1914 to the Battle of the Somme in 1916. In this period, the poetic voice of the generation was generally patriotic and heroic. However, as the war dragged on, the carnage and suffering seemed ceaseless and pointless, since the front lines changed by only a few miles from year to year. The second period of British...
[The entire page is 1538 words long]
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