“Apologia Pro Poemate Meo”Wilfred Owen

This document will be a useful resource if done well. You each have a part to play in this.

There are three basic ways to construct an IOC1 Go through it stanza by stanza discussing ideas, language features and you go.2 Start by discussing the purpose, audience, tone, key ideas. Then expand on those key

ideas by discussing specific lines/images/quotations.3 Start by focusing on the main idea or the main message in the poem and then discuss how

the language, structure, imagery etc contribute to that.

Not one of these ways is the correct way. You need to organise your IOC in a way that best demonstrates your skills.

This document has about 15 pages. The poem has nine stanzas. The first nine in the class - alphabetically - will write a commentary on their one assigned stanza. Fill the page. The remaining people in the class have been assigned a specific question. Answer it in one page. Use the contents table below to locate your page.

Contents:“Apologia Pro Poemate Meo” Text of the poem

Stanza 1 - Nick Ainge-RoyStanza 2: Isaac BeckStanza 3 - Luiz BuckStanza 4 - Alex BurchellStanza 5 - Mathew ClarkeStanza 6 - Ed DaviesStanza 7 - Sam GuestStanza 8 - C harlie Hantler. Stanza 9 - Kyu KimThe imagery in the poem -Josh Quon and Tim ShielsOwen’s overall purpose in this poem - Calvin TanThe audience and its relationship with the poem - Nick WhiteThe overall tone of the poem - Keith Woo

“Apologia Pro Poemate Meo”

I, too, saw God through mud-- The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled. War brought more glory to their eyes than blood, And gave their laughs more glee than shakes a child.

Merry it was to laugh there-- Where death becomes absurd and life absurder. For power was on us as we slashed bones bare Not to feel sickness or remorse of murder.

I, too, have dropped off fear-- Behind the barrage, dead as my platoon, And sailed my spirit surging, light and clear, Past the entanglement where hopes lie strewn;

And witnessed exhultation-- Faces that used to curse me, scowl for scowl, Shine and lift up with passion of oblation, Seraphic for an hour, though they were foul.

I have made fellowships-- Untold of happy lovers in old song. For love is not the binding of fair lips With the soft silk of eyes that look and long.

By joy, whose ribbon slips,-- But wound with war's hard wire whose stakes are strong; Bound with the bandage of the arm that drips; Knit in the welding of the rifle-thong.

I have perceived much beauty In the hoarse oaths that kept our courage straight; Heard music in the silentness of duty; Found peace where shell-storms spouted reddest spate.

Nevertheless, except you share With them in hell the sorrowful dark of hell, Whose world is but a trembling of a flare And heaven but a highway for a shell,

You shall not hear their mirth: You shall not come to think them well content By any jest of mine. These men are worth Your tears: You are not worth their merriment.

Stanza 1 - Nick Ainge-Roy

I, too, saw God through mud-- The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled. War brought more glory to their eyes than blood, And gave their laughs more glee than shakes a child.

The first line starts with the personal pronoun ‘I’, showing that Owen is writing as if he is still in the trenches. I interpret the first line as Owen speaking of how he only sees God when he has lost all hope in the muddy trenches. The word ‘too’ makes it seem like Owen is one of many who has turned to God in this hopeless time.

The next line describes the soldiers that the mud is caked on. Owen describes the soldiers as ‘wretches’, people who are unhappy or unfortunate. Owen juxtaposes this by referring to their smiles, an odd thing to mention about hopeless men trapped in the trenches.

The final two lines of the stanza refer to the men and their attitude towards war. At the outbreak of World War I, many young men enlisted in the army because they thought the war would be an adventure and a chance to see the world. Owen describes this attitude in line three by saying “War brought more glory to their eyes than blood,”. To these young men, the war was a chance to bring honour and glory to themselves and they did not realise the bloodshed and slaughter that war actually involved.

The final line of the stanza speaks of the soldiers’ gay and exuberant approach to battle. Many men were sent off with great fanfare and celebration. These men treated the war as something lighthearted and so they departed with a smile on their faces and laughter ringing from the ships. Owen also mentions children in this line as a way of drawing attention to the soldiers themselves. Children are very innocent, and so would these men have been as many of them were not full time soldiers and would never have seen battle before. It also refers to the age of the soldiers. Many young men, some as young as 16, lied about their age in order to get into the army and so would still have been children when they left for the front.

Stanza 2: Isaac Beck

Merry it was to laugh there-- Where death becomes absurd and life absurder. For power was on us as we slashed bones bare Not to feel sickness or remorse of murder. peel

The dash “--” in the first line of the stanza indicates that there will be an upcoming list of things that were “merry” in the War. This line is then juxtaposed to the following lines of the stanza, as the ‘list’ that he creates next is not what one would typically associate with “merry”.

The 2nd line of the stanza illustrates the preposterousness of the War. Here, Owen questions the very meaning of war and continues to even question the meaning of life.

The use of “power” in the 3rd line is interesting, as Owen initially leads the reader to believe that the “power” being referred to is the ability to rip someone’s flesh from their bones. The enjambment between lines 3 and 4 is key here, as the writer uses bathos to form an anticlimax and ‘sink’ the reader back down. This is caused by the fact that “power” in the 3rd line refers to the soldier’s ability to suppress their “sickness or remorse” from their acts in the War. This illustrates a stark picture of the War: those fighting are only human and can experience the same emotions as everyone else. Owen contrasts the imagery of the “slashed bones” with the sometimes fragile emotions of the soldiers.

In this stanza, the author uses contradictory ideas to emphasise the harsh imagery of the 2nd-4th lines. Owen writes in a satirical manner in order to compare the way in which the war was advertised to the soldiers before they joined the army, with the soldier’s experiences at war. This indicates that the “merry” times that everyone had said that they would have at war are in fact pretty crap.

Stanza 3 - Luiz Buck

I, too, have dropped off fear-- Behind the barrage, dead as my platoon, And sailed my spirit surging, light and clear, Past the entanglement where hopes lie strewn;

The use of ‘I’ shows a personal response from the narrator, he has ‘dropped off fear’, which may imply that he has lost all fear for the war he is in. This may show the show the military attitude for soldiers not to be afraid in combat. Soldiers have to act in a way where they de-humanise themselves and so do not feel emotion in such a situation. Additionally, when the narrator says ‘too’, the soldiers around him are reacting in the same manner.

Barrage is when there is bombardment, showing the narrator the setting of the poem as in a heavy war area, where there is a horrific atmosphere. This is enforced by the ‘dead as my platoon’, showing there are soldiers around him that have died from the barrage. Additionally as Owen was a lieutenant of a platoon, the use of the word ‘my’ shows his leadership role and that he has taken on a role of accepting responsibility for the death of soldier, albeit that he could not have done anything to prevent the death of them in such a horror of a war.

The narrator feels his ‘spirit surging, light and clear’, perhaps he feels confident and aware of what he is doing. Light and clear insinuates to the audience that he knows of the actions he is taking. This is may seem unusual in war due to the nature of injury and the senseless taking of young life. Also this may show the narrator has accepted that he will die in this war, and come to terms with his fate.

The narrator speaks of ‘the entanglement of where hopes lie strewn’, shows the death situation of soldier. Their bodies are described as hopes; hopes for their lives in the future and the lives they would have lead. Additionally it may be the hopes for the nation, and the prospect of winning the war and it for it to be over quickly. The soldiers that have died and particularly young and the nation is losing a generation.

Stanza 4 - Alex Burchell

And witnessed exhultation-- Faces that used to curse me, scowl for scowl, Shine and lift up with passion of oblation, Seraphic for an hour, though they were foul.

The first line states that the narrator has witnessed exultation, or an extended period of epiphany. He goes on to describe the faces of his comrades, and how, although they once scowled at him and cursed him; in the time of war and conflict he saw them lighting up with passion. This shows the excitement that war can bring and the change that the conflict can seem to induce in people, no matter how dull or bitter they may be beforehand; through the use of the phrase faces… …shine and lift up with passion of oblation. It also shows how the prior conflict between them may have been driven by both sides, and not just one; scowl for scowl suggests an exchange between the two parties, where both of them acted towards the other. However, he also talks about how they can still be the same person underneath, regardless of the change in appearance; Seraphic for an hour, though they were foul.

However this stanza can also be interpreted on a deeper level, as a result of the use of religious imagery. Four key words in this stanza have religious connotations, and the choice of these words may be seen as a portrayal of something holy within the conflict; Witnessed, Exultation, Seraphic and Oblation. The particularly strong example within these choices is the use of the word Seraphic. Owen chose this word to use to describe his comrades' facial expressions, and considering that his comrades as soldiers, this seems particularly ironic. Seraphs are child angels; and are seen as being particularly strong symbols of peace and love; the fact that Owen is using a symbol of peace and love to describe men of war and violence is puzzling, to say the least. However, he uses this adjective specifically, not describing his comrades as seraphic, but only their facial expressions. Owen may, at this point be describing the contrast between appearance and reality, and reminding us that not everything is as it seems.

The use of the word witnessed is also worth noting. In religious terms, witnessing something suggests something very rare or unusual, or something beyond this world; something supernatural, and worthy of great happiness. We can see, to an extent, this happening to some people in modern day society, with people such as Jehovah’s witnesses. The word exultation talks about an extended period of excitement, great joy, or Epiphany. The use of these two words together suggests the extremity of his experience, and the significance of his unusual situation.

Stanza 5 - Mathew Clarke

I have made fellowships-- Untold of happy lovers in old song. For love is not the binding of fair lips With the soft silk of eyes that look and long.

”Fellowships” talks of the brotherhood and love found among the soldiers which is “untold” because this is something that can only be experienced and those that weren’t there will never truly know. The first person pronoun emphasises Owen’s personal experience.

It’s also untold in “old song” because Owen may be challenging the conventions of love songs, here its talking about comradely love between men in war which again is something only people there could ever understand.

This is another stanza explaining how, out of the mere mechanised slaughter of war came some good, such as the love found between troops prior to the turning point in the poem.

The second two lines in the poem talk of the love found outside of war, it describes the normal ideas of love with romantic kisses between “fair lips” and longing eyes for those cute staring into each others eye moments.

But before all that it says “for love is not...” and although he doesn’t specifically go into the love between brothers in war it does imply that’s what he’s referring to.

The sibilance in the last line “soft silk of eyes” is a very nice, soft sounding phrase possibly to show the femininity of conventional love which stands in stark contrast to the masculine love found in war.

”binding” connotes marriage which is a central focus with this traditional love

the phrase “happy lovers” shows perhaps the crucial difference between the two loves, that one’s formed in matrimony and is joyous while the others formed in blood, guts and violence... not quite as happy. It may also emphasise what sorts of love will not be able to be experienced by these young men sacrificing their lives.

I believe he is rather talking about the superficial things associated with love like the kissing and the displays of affection when really the important part of love, a part both types share is the raw emotion felt between two people.

Stanza 6 - Ed Davies

By joy, whose ribbon slips,-- But wound with war's hard wire whose stakes are strong; Bound with the bandage of the arm that drips; Knit in the welding of the rifle-thong.

Perhaps the most significant part of this stanza, especially at face value, is the use of the word ‘But’. As in all poetry, the word signifies a change in the tone in what the author is attempting to convey. In this case, it is used by Owen as a contradiction of what has been stated in the previous 5 stanzas, where war was portrayed in a positive light.

Following the word ‘but’, and its contradiction, Owen then goes on to express war in a negative light. The use of words such as ‘wire’, ‘bandage’ and ‘drips’, all with clear negative connotations

The use of the two words ‘Bound’ and ‘Knit’, suggest the type of comradeship present in the war effort. Owen is implying that once you are of age, and have made the decision to step into war, there is no going back and you are in fact obliged to fight for your comrades and your country. The fact that the ‘wire’ is ‘hard’ and the ‘stakes are strong’ again shows how exit from the war was not an option, and further places war in a negative light - interestingly something society realised after years of fighting and killing.

As the words ‘ribbon’ and ‘knit’ suggest feminism, Owen could also be referring to comradeship of individuals who aren’t on the battlefront, but instead working on the home front. The ‘bandage’ further implies feminism showing and expressing the effort that was occurring not just from the soldiers, but wider society. We as readers know that through this time these efforts were important in supporting war, and through Owen’s expression, we see that these efforts were always in the back of the soldiers mind.

Through showing us as readers there are two sides to war, Owen also exemplifies the good and the evil. The use of the contradiction, backed up by negative war imagery, shows the reader the reality of what war was really like. Perhaps the positivity and happiness expressed in the first stanzas represent the initial urge for a fast and victorious war. While it is unknown whether he is referring to an individual soldier, or the war as a whole, it still has a profound affect on the reader.

Lastly, the ‘rifle-thong’, ‘welded’ in the emphatic position at the closure of the stanza is important. Perhaps Owen is attempting to express the fact that

Stanza 7 - Sam Guest

I have perceived much beauty In the hoarse oaths that kept our courage straight; Heard music in the silentness of duty; Found peace where shell-storms spouted reddest spate.

The juxtaposition in this stanza is important because it illustrates the difference in views of the men fighting the war and their family at home, and also the attitudes of these soldiers.

At the beginning of the war it was thought that it would all be over before christmas. This war was seen as an opportunity to go overseas and share in an adventure. The real image of war was never seen by those who stayed at home, and this is one of the poet’s purposes of this poem. “Heard music in the silentness” is an oxymoron that presents the idea that beauty can be found where we least expect it. It states that the soldiers that took part in the war were looking for an escape from the horrible nature of war that is depicted in the last line of the stanza.

The “peace” mentioned in the fourth line could represent the figurative escape from battle through music or poetry, or the literal escape of death. Because of the previous mention of music this could be seen as soldiers looking to take their mind off battle. This also shows the view of the people who did not go to war. They could be of the view that soldiers find peace in battle, and that they go away to war in order to reflect on life. However the literal meaning for peace, the escape from battle in the form of death, looks forward to the change in tone that takes place directly after this line, indicated by the word “nevertheless”. It shows that war is so terrible that death is a welcome escape. It alludes to the spiritual theme of the poem. Death is an escape from reality, in which one could be in pain, and the gain of peace. This line implies that when you die you go to a peaceful place. This builds on the motif of heaven and hell in the poem.

Stanza 8 - Charlie Hantler

Nevertheless, except you share With them in hell the sorrowful dark of hell, Whose world is but a trembling of a flare And heaven but a highway for a shell,

This stanza signifies a turning point in the poem, in the respect of the narrator’s empathy towards the reader. Despite the soldiers being away fighting a literal war, the families at home, and those who have not gone to war, are fighting more of a mental war, as they are constantly concerned by the well-being of their loved ones who are facing death. The helplessness of the soldiers is emphasised in this stanza, describing the battlefields as the ‘sorrowful dark of hell’, the world as ‘a trembling of a flare’ and heaven ‘but a highway for a shell’.

The battlefields being described as they are simply serves to underline Owen’s hatred of war, seeing as he was affected so gravely by it, and hence he feels that the soldiers are condemned to hell. The world being described as a ‘trembling flare’ reflects the helpless nature of all fighting both the wars at home and in the trenches, as ‘trembling’ connotes the fear of the soldiers, and a flare would commonly be used as a call for help, describing the world as ‘but a’ trembling flare, shows the insignificance of this flare- it is far too late for help. This again reflects Owen’s critical stance on the violent nature of war- there is no-one to save the soldiers, it is every man for themselves, while also showing the helplessness he would have felt while his son was fighting, along with millions of other families- they were ‘but trembling flares’, they were too far away to impact what was happening, regardless of their will.

The stanza is finished with a simile which aptly sums up the situation, as Owen states that heaven is ‘but a highway for a shell’. In this world, ‘a trembling of a flare’, the only real safety is death, with heaven being idolized as a safehaven of peace and safety, yet to get there, they have to submit to the one thing that is making this world hell- war. Again, Owen uses this simile to highlight his own standing- no-one wins in war.

This stanza suits the theme of the poem adequately in accordance with Owen’s transition from excitement to tragedy as the war advanced. This stanza shows the turning point, as he has transitioned between the two numerous times throughout the poem, yet here, in the penultimate stanza, he makes a final decision, much as millions did at the time of the war. Although many saw their men return from the war safely and triumphant, many more faced the grim reality of death. War has achieved little in Owen’s mind, as he faced a long period in hospital, and he feels a need to explain his near loss of sanity, and forbode that which could also occur to others.

Stanza 9 - Kyu Kim

You shall not hear their mirth: You shall not come to think them well content By any jest of mine. These men are worth Your tears: You are not worth their merriment.

This stanza condemns those who were not partaking in the war; it condemns them as falsely believing that the soldiers are having the time of their life and living the dream. This is shown through the use of the direct address: ‘you’. ‘You’ and ‘your’ are placed in the emphatic positions of three of the four lines of the quatrain to embolden the condemnation. In fact, the lines are similar to the Ten Commandments; ‘you shall not....’ is not unlike ‘thou shall not....’.

Those not partaking in the war are denied any communal ‘mirth’ or ‘content’ and Owen establishes a separation between his audience and the entrenched soldiers; the world of war is not fun and games. In addition, Owen’s ‘jest’ is alluding to his poem. Relating to the lyric’s title, Owen apologizes for his false portrayal of the war being an adventure; his ‘jest’. The first lines of the first seven stanzas state what Owen has learnt through his time in the trenches: ‘Merry it was to laugh there... I, too, have dropped off fear... And witnessed exultation... I have perceived much beauty’. These lines connote to the ‘glorious’ joys of war that was a common paradigm of Owen’s time. As a result of the last two stanzas, the glorious image of war that has been constructed through Owen’s lyric is destroyed. The effect on the audience would be disappointment, as this shatters the common belief that war was virtuous. Thus, Owen apologizes for his poetry.

The enjambment in the final two lines conveys an angry tone as the meter is disrupted. The caesura in the final line of the poem is used to highlight the doom of those not in the war ‘You are not worth their merriment’.

The imagery in the poem - Josh Quon and Tim Shiels

One of the main purposes of the poem “Apologia Pro Poemate Meo” is to show the difference between the reality of war and the understanding the general population has of it. To do this, Wilfred Owen uses imagery to emphasize the difference between the two. Whilst reading this poem, the reader is able to imagine the emotions and hardships the soldiers go through and experience it for themselves - to a certain extent. Therefore, the use of imagery is an exceptional way to show the reader the true conditions of war, from Owen's perspective.

The first piece of imagery Owen employs is the idea of God. He does this in the first line: "I, too, saw God through mud--". God is commonly associated to war as being the saviour and protector of the soldiers. Owen shows that this notion is shared by the soldiers by using the word 'too'. Perhaps the soldiers see God as a symbol of hope through the mud - which symbolizes the desolate conditions of warfare. He expands the idea of mud in the next line, "The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled." Ironically, it is not God that breaks the mud, but it is the smile of the wretches (soldiers). Therefore, to a certain extent, Owen sarcastically decribes God as their saviours, showing that he has denounced his faith because of the helplessness he has faced. This is reinforced in the 8th stanza, where he talks about heaven and hell. He describes hell has sorrowful and dark, which are emotions that are common to every human being. Constrastingly, he degrades heaven to just a highway for a hell.

Owen’s overall purpose in this poem - Calvin Tan

Owen’s overall purpose in this poem is to at first convey his personal experience with war, by writing in first person, Owen enables the readers to have a close relationship with his experience with war. However, the poem is later directed to the audience, besides the shift from first person to a second person style of writing,from Owen’s repetition of second person tenses “you...you...your” he attempts to leave the readers with a choice, whether to join the army and go through what they’ve been through or not be able to share happiness with the armies. This is significant because it distance the relationship between soldiers and normal citizens, this enables the soldiers to be at a higher level compared to ordinary citizens it makes them the armies of god with Owen’s use of effective religion symbolism. However, the readers are still trying to understand the

The audience and its relationship with the poem - Nick White

There is much to imply that the poem is a message towards its audience. This is first shown in the Latin title, roughly meaning “Apologies for my Poetry” - Owen addresses this directly towards the audience, whether he is sorry or not, the title shows that the poem is intended to evoke a reaction from the reader, likely a negative one. Indeed, Apologia means a formal written defence of one’s beliefs, implying that Owen is using the poem to justify his beliefs towards the audience. Moreover the use of Latin in the title, which would only be understood by reasonably well educated people, shows that Owen’s audience with the poem is the middle classes.

By his use of “I” and “them” through the poem, Owen makes it clear that he is a soldier, and “they” are his fellow soldiers. Thus when “you” is used in the final paragraph, it is clear that he is referring to the people back home who are not fighting the war. His message for the people back home is that “these men are worth your tears” - Owen peels his fellow soldiers have been through such horror that the people back home should not “think them well content”, they should cry for them. In World War 1 the british public that Owen has addressed his poem to did not have an accurate idea of the reality of the war their countrymen were fighting, due to propaganda, control of press, and not being on the front lines themselves. Indeed when the war began thousands of young men signed up, expecting an easy, if not fun, time fighting the war. Owen refers to this perception in his first paragraph, “war brought less glory to their eyes than blood”, but goes on to show the of glory in war, “to feel sickness and remorse of murder”, implying that war dehumanizes people, not at all glorious.

Owen challenges this idea of glorious and brave war further in stanzas 3, 5 and 7, referring to the stereotypes of the good parts of war - “I too have dropped off fear”, referring to men gaining great courage under fire, or “fellowships - untold of happy lovers in old song” referring to the band of brothers formed between men. Owen admits that these stories have some truth to them, and that you can perceive “much beauty” in parts of war. However in the second last paragraph he mentions his true message, that “nevertheless” war is still “hell”, where heaven does not exist, it is nothing but a “highway for a shell”.

The overall tone of the poem - Keith Woo

The tone varies throughout the poem. The use of childlike imagery with the descriptions of the war set up a less sombre and serious tone while incorporating some innocence into the poem. “gave their laughs more glee than shakes a child” and “Merry it was to laugh there” all contribute to building a more innocent tone in the poem. Additionally, his use of children to build an innocent tone is well suited as most people perceive children as pure and innocent. However there is a distinct shift in tone of the poem as we move from the 5th stanza to the 6th stanza as evidenced by the author’s use of the word “but” to signify a contrast in tone. The lines “war’s hard wire whose stakes are strong”, “bound with the bandage of the arm that drips”, “Knit in the wielding of the rifle-thong.”, “silentness of duty”, “shell-storms spouted reddest spate” all contribute to giving the poem a more serious and realistic tone as compared to the innocence in the previous stanzas. This tone is built up by the author’s emphasis on the phyical rather than the emotional or social context of war. This is evidenced by his emphasis on the military equipment and the killing that ensues in wars. The usage of religious imagery, “with them in hell the sorrowful dark of hell”, “heaven but a highway for a shell” in stanza 8 also help to create a more sombre or even fearful tone. The shift in tone of the poem can be likened to mirror that of the public’s perception of the war, particularly World War 1. This is significant because the author had served in World War 1. The public’s perception of war during the author’s period was similar to the tone created by the first 5 stanzas of the poem. The public had viewed the war with childlike imagination and completely underestimated the casualties that it would lead. However by the 6th stanza, the tone had changed from innocent to realistic as Owen places emphasis on the reality of the hardships faced by soldiers during war. Similarly, after some time, the public slowly realized the harsh the realities that war brought and that “these men are worth your tears”.