By Wilfred Owen
•
•
To explore and analyse Wilfred Owen’s poem
‘The Send Off’
To learn how Owen presents his thoughts and
feelings
Sent off
to war
sent off
their
 What
does
the= title
telltous
about
deaths – straight away we can see
what
is
happening?
Owen’s pessimistic point of view about
the war
 Who
is it happening to?
 What do you think their feelings
are at leaving?
 How do those left behind feel?
‘Down, ‘close, ‘darkening lanes’ =
oppressive feeling - image of
doom
Siding Shed = alliteration. The siding shed is a shed
at the end of a siding (a dead end railway track
where goods are processed). Cattle and other
animals would be loaded into wagons from similar
facilities, Owen reveals how the soldiers are being
treated as goods; passengers would get on a train
from a platform at the station, not from a shed at
the end of a siding.
Alliteration – ‘g’
Oxymoron (a figure
sound to emphasise
of speech that
the forced smiles
combines
contradictory
terms)
Stuck = wounded
Symbolises peace
Irony: used for celebrations but Owen
makes us think of funeral flowers
Insensitive or lacking interest; listless. This
suggests the porters have seen so many
soldiers leave on the trains that they have
become dulled to it all
Alliteration: ‘s’ makes a shushing sound – stood
staring – not making a sound
Casual: Unconcerned about the men potentially
going to their deaths; the only thing he will
miss is the things the soldiers gave him when
they were training at the ‘upland camp.’
Personification to make the signals and the lamp have
human characteristics - to indicate that it feels as if
even the signals and the lamp are part of a conspiracy to
send the men off to their deaths. The signals are
‘unmoved’ that the men are departing; like the ‘dull’
porters and the ‘casual’ tramp they are uncaring at what
the men will face on the battlefield. That the lamp
‘winked’ suggests slyness and deceit. The lamp and
signals seem to be in league with the guard who is in
charge of sending the soldiers off as they nod and wink
at him – they are all in it together
 How does the ‘So secretly’ link with the previous two
line stanza with its ideas of conspiracy?
Simile - suggests no one wants to think about
what
the
men
are really
going
they pretend

Owen
uses
a simile
to describe
theto;
soldiers.
Why are
that
glorious
andup’?
any suggestion of the
theywar
‘likeis
wrongs
hushed
horror of war has to be ‘hushed up.’
 Owen places ‘they went’ at the end of the line. Why
do you think he does that?
Alliteration: ‘So secretly’ is almost like a
shushing sound.
The people watching the soldiers go do not know
them. They do not care for them. The soldiers do not
belong there.
They: not recognised as individuals
 Why is this simple short line so sad?
 Who is the narrator of the poem? How do you know?
If in doubt look further on in the poem (line 14).
 What is Owen trying to say in this blunt statement
about people’s responses to soldiers unknown to
them?
Who is speaking?
This statement seems to be made with casual
indifference. It is as if the woman does not care
where the soldiers went to or where they may have
fought and died because they are not ‘ours.’
 What is Owen trying to suggest about people’s
indifference to the deaths of those they do not know?
 Think about the difference in emotion you would feel
knowing a loved one – a beloved brother, uncle or
father- had died in comparison to hearing of the
death of a stranger from another part of England. Is
Owen being fair? Aren’t all humans programmed to
care more for their own family and friends than
strangers?
Recurring theme of flowers - funeral goodbye and
bodies prepared for death.
Owens views are very clear here - He knows that
returning soldier are not celebrated. There are no
drums
or bellsquestion:
to welcome
them
back.
The injured
Rhetorical
asks
if the
soldiers
will be are
hidden
away as
from
viewfor
as embarrassing
as theyinshow
heralded
heroes
their brave actions
thedefending
true horror
war. There is a conspiracy of
theofcountry
silence about the true nature of the war; those that
return are not as numerous as those who left and will
not line the carriages. The men who return are too
Owen contrasts
the
earlier
in this and
traumatised
by what
they
have verb
seen,‘went’
experienced
section
with theand
verb
They left in full
done
to celebrate
be‘return.’
‘wild.’
train
carriages
which
werebe‘lined’
with men and
but will
Owen
suggests
there
should
a celebration
they return
in ‘wild train-loads’?
outpouring
of welcome
for returning soldiers as they
deserve it. They deserve to hear their parish church
bells rung to welcome them home.
Answers his own question with repetition.
The repetition of ‘few’ indicates the huge casualties
experienced by the British during World War 1.
The returning soldiers experience ‘survivor’s guilt’
- they survived when many others didn’t. It is
because they don’t want to talk about the horrors
they have seen and experienced and just want to
quietly return home to their ‘village wells’
(representing home and a peaceful community
where their basic needs are met) and get on with
life.
The placement of the word ‘silent’ in the middle of
this line emphasises the men’s desire not to talk
about their experiences – they were just too
horrific to revisit.
The final line of the poem seems mysterious. Why are
the roads ‘half-known’?
 Is it because the soldiers don’t return home because
they are ashamed at surviving?
 Is it because those who are injured are sent to
recuperate?
 Is it because they went away such a long time ago and
have experienced such a different way of life that they
have half-forgotten what home looks like after the
horrors they have seen?
 Or does it mean something else? What do you think?
 Why did Owen write this poem?
 Pick two techniques he has used in the poem and
explain why their use is effective. Be prepared to share
them.
 How does the poem make you feel about the way you
think about soldiers who are fighting and dying in Iraq
and Afghanistan now and whose deaths and injuries
are reported on the television and radio and in papers
and on-line?