The poems use a range of literary devices to convey the meaning with clarity and make the poem more realistic. Wilfred Owen uses different techniques like caesura, metaphors, alliteration, repetition and rhetorical questions. He repeats the second halves of the last two rhetorical questions which conclude …show more content…
He wanted to please his 'Meg' as someone said "he'd look a god in kilts." Instead, he got his limbs shot off in war. His description of the incident is quite graphic, "Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry ... And leap of purple spurted from his thigh." And now the women he was talking about passed their eyes from him, to the men who were 'whole.' They now look and touch him like he has some sort of 'queer disease.' Talking about fame and pride, some of the people cheered at him when he retired, but not as much as crowds used to when he scored a goal, which is mentioned earlier in the poem. Only a humble and 'solemn' man thanked him and bought him fruits. Not only did he not get the 'women' he joined the army for, he also lost his pride and fame as now people look at him with pity. He basically lost his life as he would now 'spend a few sick years in institutes' and eventually, at some point, die. We see how he is waiting for the dark in the first line. The 'dark' means death. He is too helpless to put himself in bed as he waiting for 'them' to come. The 'them' might refer to the nurses, or death. He has no choice. He is now not only physically, but also mentally