The Development of Ideas in "Wild with All Regrets" Miriam Fernando 12th Grade

In "Wild with All Regrets," Wilfred Owen effectively conveys the emotions of a hopeless soldier through the development and progression of thoughts. The poet uses various parallel trains of thought simultaneously, such as the past, present and future, magnifying people and then inanimate things, wandering into what could have been and having to return to what actually is. Such techniques highlight the soldier's gradual distancing of himself from himself. The form, structure, and language of the entire poem and of the individual stanzas all contribute to the development of ideas and to a reader's understanding of the turns taken by the persona’s mind.

In the first stanza, Owen takes the persona’s memories to the past; here, the reader finds the language pleasant. Words like “spring,” “lilac shoots,” and “boyhood” create this atmosphere of repose. Owen also uses mild, gentler words for negative thoughts as well, including “awful” and the expression “my buck!” As thought moves to the present in the second stanza, the words get harsher, “lugged” and “coffin,” “blood” and “dirt,” until finally in the third stanza the words are torturous, an inevitable “chill,” “sobs,” and unpleasant emotions that “climb” through the persona. This...