Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Arms and the Boy,” is a subtle criticism of war that asks deeper questions about violence in human society. Man is born with little that could be used as a physical weapon of violence. His teeth “seem for laughing round and apple” and there “lurk no claws behind his fingers.” Despite this lack of natural weaponry, human beings create themselves powerful, destructive weapons of steel and zinc that are far more deadly than any natural teeth, claws, talons, or antlers. Owen makes use of vibrant imagery and articulate language to aid in both making the poem pleasurable to read and to better portray his meaning. He also makes frequent use poetic devices which appeal to the ear such as rhyme and alliteration.
To best understand Wilfred Owen’s poetry, you must understand Wilfred Owen. He was the son of a railway worker, born in 1893. Although he had previously regarded himself as a pacifist, Owen entered World War I, commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant. It was during the war that he wrote his poetry, so it should not be a surprise that he wrote serious, contemplative poems on war. Owens earned the Royal Military Cross in battle, an honor that was given to less than 3000 British soldiers. Wilfred Owen was killed by machine-gun fire in 1918, a week before armistice was signed. As a pacifist who fought in the “Great War” Owen was likely to have suffered from daunting moral questions and reservations. In fact at one point he suffered from Shell shock, siting for days in a bomb crater with the mangled corpse of a fellow officer. While recuperating at a war hospital, Wilfred Owen met people who encouraged him in his poetry and helped him publish it. In his poem, “Arms and the Boy,” Owen expresses himself with a reserved, but critical attitude towards the subject of weaponry and violence. This is evidenced by the quantity of harsh words that he uses, such as “malice,” “famishing,” “sharp,” “death,” and “talons.”
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The Horrors of War, Through the Eyes of a Modernist Poet Modernism was a movement in literature that was the result of many events of the times. First, the industrial revolution, which changed the way many people lived, strongly affected the writing of the Modernists. Modernist writers started to believe that the world was getting darker, which lead some Modernists to believe that this downward ...
Wilfred Owen’s poem is unusual in that it makes use solely of slant rhyme. The final consonant sounds of the words at the end of the lines rhyme, but not the vowel sounds. The rhyme pattern is a simple a /a b /b c /c d /d e /e f /f. The poem would doubtless maintain its meaning without this, but it would not be as pleasurable to read or as appealing to the senses. The rhythm is mainly an iambic pentameter, but with variations of 9 and 11 syllables. This likewise creates an even sounding poem that is beguiling to the reader.
Owen makes frequent use of alliteration to add emphasis to his imagery. The phrases “bayonet-blade,” “blind, blunt, bullet,” and “famishing for flesh” are good examples of alliteration. This creates a pleasing affect to the ear, and simultaneously gives greater import to the particular image. The poet also uses repetition, which is similar to alliteration, except whole words or phrases are repeated, and they do not have to be close together. The words “sharp” and ‘teeth” are repeated in the poem for the effect that they create.
“Arms and the Boy” contains vivid, captivating images and figurative language that brings the poem to life. The personification in the second line of the poem helps create an image that sets the somber tone of the poem and foreshadows the theme. “How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood” appeals strongly to the tactile senses with the words “cold” and “keen.” The lines “Or give him cartridges of fine zinc teeth / Sharp with the sharpness of grief and death” contain two bold metaphors. The first line compares the bullets to “fine zinc teeth,” while the second line compares their physical sharpness with the emotional “sharpness” of grief and death. Wilfred Owen utilizes many descriptive, powerful verbs like “stroke,” “nuzzle,” and “lurk” in creating these masterful images.
The poem “Arms and the Boy,” is a short poem offering one man’s perceptive insight into war and violence in human society. It is a pleasure to read for the mind and the senses owing to his stimulating and innovative use of imagery, figurative language, and other poetic devices. Owen does not directly present the insights of his poem, but rather he asks difficult questions and lets the reader contemplate the answers for him/herself. Why does man, born without talon or claw, create steel blades “blue with malice” and “zinc teeth” with the “sharpness of grief and death”?
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