Wilfred Owen’s The Send-Off (1917) and Spring Offensive (1917) displays the truth of war past society’s views of it in the early 20th century. The Send-Off, set in England, concentrates on the aspects of war that are seen by those who have not fought, therefore exploring more views of the society at the time, however, Spring Offensive is set on the war zone, displaying more violence and accurate events of WWI. Combined, both poems portray the stages of war: The Send-Off presenting the first send-off of soldiers, Spring Offensive outlining the waiting, tension, attack, and death in war, and the conclusion of The Send-Off showing the survivors and outcome of the war. Owen, a WWI soldier, wrote both poems in the duration of his time serving,
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In the first line of The Send-Off, the soldiers are described singing down a street through “darkening lanes,” - the use of “darkening” foreshadowing their death. His symbolism with the soldiers, “Their breasts were stuck all white in wreath and spray,” allude to their deaths, the use of “white” and flowers in “wreaths” relating to funerals. Owen emphasises their ends as final through the caesura and full stop encasing the word “death” in the end of stanza one. This constant repetition of death in the first stanza of The Send-Off signifies the acknowledgement of it held by soldiers before going to war, and their inability to escape it from the outset. The motif if death is used again in the final stanza - the return of the soldiers, where “A few, a few, too few,” is used to describe the amount of men coming back from war, signifying the extent of death in …show more content…
“Dull porters watched them, and casual tramp / Stood staring hard, / Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.” The porters are “dull” due to their loss of profit from the soldiers, similarly to the casual tramp who has a loss of clients. Both the porter and tramp are depicted as selfish and unemotional to the situation, as they are only judging the soldiers for their own good - “Stood staring hard.” The harsh words apply to the harsh judgement of the porter and tramp, and their opinion of being “Sorry to miss them (soldiers),”is ironic, as they are only sorry for themselves. In contrast to this, the porter and tramp are compared to a personified lamp which “Winked to the guard,” seeming more human to the “unmoved” and uncaring pair in the station. Hence, Owen displays the lack of compassion though selfish desires and inhumane motives towards the soldiers in
In the first line of The Send-Off, the soldiers are described singing down a street through “darkening lanes,” - the use of “darkening” foreshadowing their death. His symbolism with the soldiers, “Their breasts were stuck all white in wreath and spray,” allude to their deaths, the use of “white” and flowers in “wreaths” relating to funerals. Owen emphasises their ends as final through the caesura and full stop encasing the word “death” in the end of stanza one. This constant repetition of death in the first stanza of The Send-Off signifies the acknowledgement of it held by soldiers before going to war, and their inability to escape it from the outset. The motif if death is used again in the final stanza - the return of the soldiers, where “A few, a few, too few,” is used to describe the amount of men coming back from war, signifying the extent of death in …show more content…
“Dull porters watched them, and casual tramp / Stood staring hard, / Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.” The porters are “dull” due to their loss of profit from the soldiers, similarly to the casual tramp who has a loss of clients. Both the porter and tramp are depicted as selfish and unemotional to the situation, as they are only judging the soldiers for their own good - “Stood staring hard.” The harsh words apply to the harsh judgement of the porter and tramp, and their opinion of being “Sorry to miss them (soldiers),”is ironic, as they are only sorry for themselves. In contrast to this, the porter and tramp are compared to a personified lamp which “Winked to the guard,” seeming more human to the “unmoved” and uncaring pair in the station. Hence, Owen displays the lack of compassion though selfish desires and inhumane motives towards the soldiers in