exposure

Question 1

“our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…”

Answer 1

• nature is immediately personified in a sinister way to create a sense of fear in the reader, “merciless”, “knive us”

Question 2

“wearied, we keep awake because the night is silent”

Answer 2

• “wearied, we”, alliteration, slows down the reader to emphaise how long the night felt while staying awake

Question 3

“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”

Answer 3

• personifies nature once more
• pathetic fallacy, the weather is “melancholy” reflecting the emotions of the men
• “massing”, suggests the weather is much more dangerous than the germans

Question 4

“so we drowse, sun dozed”

Answer 4

• sleep is displays as something peaceful, “sun-dozed”, even though it may kill him, “is it that we are dying”
• shows how nature is attempting to kill them by seducing them into sleep

Question 5

“for love of god seems dying”

Answer 5

• shows how owen loses faith in this environment, not even god can save them
• shows how war goes against key religious beliefs, thou shalt not kill

Question 6

“pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice”

Answer 6

• shows how the men are literally and metaphorically dying
• literally through “half-known faces” suggesting they have died quickly, as they have not gotten to get fully known by others in the war
• metaphorically through “all their eyes have ice”, as the men would have to not develop any friendships as they would be emotionally damaged if they died. demonstrates how unfeeling they are

Question 7

“but nothing happens”

Answer 7

• references the attack on the germans not taking place
• shows that he would have rather fought the germans than endure the forces of nature

Question 8

what do the half rhymes in the poem, exposure suggest

Answer 8

• suggest his fragmented mind as a result of the storm
• a half rhyme seems to give a rounded ending, but doesn’t, which reflects the rest of the poem as owen constantly seeks refuge from the storm only to be bombarded with another hurdle to endure

Question 9

explain the form of the poem, exposure

Answer 9

• each stanza is written in 5 lines, but each contain half rhymes
• the final line is indented and short to convey a powerful message to the reader to stop the horrible things described in the poem