An examination of First World War poetry from British author Wilfred Owen.

"My subject is war and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity." - Wilfred Owen. Owen wrote his poetry to suit many different purposes. It's speculated that before joining the war he, like many others including Rupert Brooke, wrote propaganda poetry to maybe celebrate the event. However, the purpose of his poetry undergoes a drastic change when faced with reality as portrayed in various poems, and it is for this that he …

…itself. Owen also seems to be distracting himself from his poem, which is again unusual. Owen was heavily influenced by Sassoon and he seems to have gained his compassion for his writing. Whereas in other poems we have been shown terrible pictures of material places, here nature takes that role. The comparison that can be made is deeper in this poem. Owen seems a lot like Dante here. The enemy isn't the enemy anymore. 1670 words.