Wilfred Owen
“Disabled”
By: Gauhar Raina
Winfield Chen
Wilfred Owen
 English Poet and
Soldier
 One of the leading
poets of WWI
 Influenced by Sassoon
 Focused on reality of
war
Disabled
1
2
3
4
He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
5 Voices of play and pleasure after day,
6 Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.
7 About this time Town used to swing so gay
8 When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees
9 And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,
10 — In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
11 Now he will never feel again how slim
12 Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,
13 All of them touch him like some queer disease.
14 There was an artist silly for his face,
15 For it was younger than his youth, last year.
16 Now he is old; his back will never brace;
17 He's lost his colour very far from here,
18 Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
19 And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,
20 And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.
21 One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
22 After the matches carried shoulder-high.
23 It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
24 He thought he'd better join. He wonders why .
.
25 Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.
26 That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
27 Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
28 He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
29 Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen
years.
30 Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears
31 Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
32 For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
33And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
34 Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
35 And soon, he was drafted out with drums and
cheers.
36 Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer
Goal.
37 Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
38 Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.
39 Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,
40 And do what things the rules consider wise,
41 And take whatever pity they may dole.
42 To-night he noticed how the women's eyes
43 Passed from him to the strong men that were
whole.
44 How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
45 And put him into bed? Why don't they come?
-Wilfred Owen
Introduction
• Injured Soldier
• Regrets going to war
• Life before war compared to life after war
• Feelings of bitterness
Thesis
• Through the use of literary devices, imagery,
irony, tone, atmosphere as well as the contrast
between life before and after joining the war,
Wilfred Owen shows the lost of youth in the
soldiers and the old lie spread by the
commanders of the army during the war.
Title of the Poem
• Soldiers disabled physically by war
 “wheeled chair” (1)
• Life of the soldiers ruined
 “Now he will never feel again…” (11)
Theme
• Truth of the old lie: In this poem, Wilfred
Owen shows the reality of war, which is the
opposite to what the propaganda by the
government described.
• Effect of war on soldier: The soldier described
in this poem lost everything due to the war.
Form and Structure
• Poem is divided into two parts
– Soldier reminiscing about life
Remembers life before war
The old lie
Life after joining the war.
– Life after the war
Disabled
Cannot return to life before war
Rhyme
• In the first few stanzas, the rhyme is all over
the place.
– Some signs of rhyme, but not in order
• In the final few stanzas, the rhyme is more
noticeable.
– Switch in line (21) Change between the sadness of
the lost to the reason for joining the war.
Figurative Language
• Similes:
 “Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn” (4)
 Song of praise, but saddened, soldiers were not praised
“…touch him like some queer disease” (13)
Girls does not want to be with him
War destroyed the soldier physically
• Metaphors:
“There was an artist silly for his face” (14)
Another indication of the effect of war
• Personification:
“… as the air grew dim” (9)
“… glow-lamps budded” (8)
• Joined the war for the girls
– The use of personification shows the reason why
the soldiers first signed up for the war.
Imagery
• Limb/Body Parts Imagery:
“Legless, sewn short at elbow” (3)
“Before he threw away his knees” (10)
“His back will never brace” (16)
 Show that the soldier is disabled
• Blood Imagery:
“leap of purple leaped from his thigh” (20)
“a blood-smear down his leg” (21)
 Refer to the brutality of war
Imagery Continued…
• Girls Imagery:
“ to please his meg” (26)
“ to please the giddy jilts” (27)
“notice how the women’s eyes” (42)
Shows how the soldiers join the war for the honour
while not receiving it after losing their lives.
Irony (General)
• Owen uses irony to get across his message of reality of war to
the readers in this poem
• It is evident he opted to join the army in order to please
his girlfriend meg, feeling that the fact he was a soldier
would be attractive to women. (24)
• What is ironic is that the war is in fact the reason why “he
will never feel again how slim girls waists are”.
Irony
• “one time he liked a blood-smear down his leg” (21)
shows how the injured soldier once felt proud to
be injured
ironic as he was seriously injured at war, and
instead of feeling proud, feels shame
• “Some cheered him home, but not as crowds
cheer Goal.”
Irony Cont…
• “he noticed how the women’s eyes passed from him to the strong men
that were whole” (42)(43)
•
“why don’t they come and put him to bed” (44)(45)
 Ironic because the soldier does not see himself as a full man.
 The soldier needs the girls to put him to bed. Ironic because the men
are suppose to put the girls to sleep
Tone and Atmosphere
• 1st Stanza
– Negative, Sad, Depressed
• Middle Stanzas (2,3,4,5)
– Envy
– Reminiscent , Sad
– Sense of Loss
• 6th and Last Stanza
– Criticizes the war through rhetorical questions
Contrast
• In the poem, Owen contrasts the life before
the war and life after the war to show the
effect of war on the soldiers and the lie told by
the generals through propaganda.
Contrast
• Life Before War
– Played Football (23)
– Believed war to be
glorious (26)
– Went to war for the girls
(26)
– Pride
• Life After War
– Disabled (1)
– Have to have women to
help him to bed (44)
– Girls do not notice him
anymore (12)(42)
Other Significant Lines
• “He didn’t have to beg…” (28)(29)
– Shows the officers eager to send soldiers to war
• “Germans he scarcely…” (30)(31)
– Only joined the army for the glory
• “Only a solemn man who brought …”(37)(38)
– No one cares about the soldiers dying
• “After the matches, carried shoulder high” (22)
– People care more about football
Connection With Other Poems
• Similarities:
– “Dulce et Decorum Est”
• The Old Lie
• Lost of Youth
• Propaganda spread by the government
• Differences
– “Base Details”
• Does not emphasize on an specific event during the war
• Memories of before the war
Conclusion
• In conclusion, through the use of contrast,
imagery, irony and other literary devices,
Owen, in “Disabled”, was able to show the
reality of war and criticize the propaganda
spread by the government
MUSIC!
Explanation of Music
Explanation of Picture
• Painted by Fay Jones
• is an official combat artist who paints scenes of
soldiers in Iraq.
• His work helps show the human side of our troops
and their struggles .
• Paints about disabled soldiers