Wilfred Owen: Poems
What do you think Owen is saying about the relationship between poetry and war?
Poetry is woven into the fabric of war. No doubt drawing from personal experience, Owen is very sympathetic to the ways in which soldiers attempted to make sense of their peculiar and terrible situation on the front and back at home. He understands that many want to deaden and dull themselves to their thoughts and feelings in order to stave off the anguish over what they have done and seen. They are drained of vitality, able to laugh in the face of death. Owen wrestles with his thoughts on this, for while he understands this psychological response, he does not necessarily think excising all emotion is good, for it severs one's connection to humanity. A man must still be part of the fabric of life, no matter how difficult it may be.