Page 2: Themes and Conclusion of Exposure

The second page of the Exposure Wilfred Owen analysis PDF delves deeper into the poem's themes and concludes with a powerful final stanza. Owen explores the soldiers' growing sense of alienation from both their homes and their faith.

The poem's focus shifts to the men's thoughts of home, but these memories are tinged with bitterness and despair. Owen writes, "Slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires, glozed / With crusted dark-red jewels," suggesting that even thoughts of warmth and comfort are now tainted by the war's brutality.

Example: The image of "crickets jingle there" and "innocent mice rejoice" in the abandoned homes emphasizes the soldiers' displacement and the continuity of life without them.

Owen explores the theme of lost faith, both in God and in the ideals that led them to war. The line "For God's invincible spring our love is made afraid" suggests that even the promise of renewal and hope has been corrupted by their experiences.

Definition: Invincible spring - A metaphor for the eternal cycle of rebirth and renewal in nature, which the soldiers now fear rather than embrace.

The poem concludes with a chilling description of death by exposure. Owen's vivid imagery of the cold "fastening on this mud and us, / Shrivelling many hands, puckering foreheads crisp" brings the physical suffering of the soldiers into sharp focus.

Quote: "The burying-party, picks and shovels in shaking grasp, / Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice, / But nothing happens."

This final stanza encapsulates the poem's themes of futility, dehumanization, and the indifference of both nature and society to the soldiers' plight. The repetition of "But nothing happens" for the last time emphasizes the tragic continuity of war despite the immense suffering it causes.

Highlight: The Exposure poem structure of five lines per stanza, occasionally broken, reflects the soldiers' struggle to maintain discipline in the face of overwhelming circumstances.