Why read The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen?

Book cover of The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen

Book description

'Orpheus, the pagan saint of poets, went through hell and came back singing. In twentieth-century mythology, the singer wears a steel helmet and makes his descent "down some profound dull tunnel" in the stinking mud of the Western Front. For most readers of English poetry, the face under that helmet…

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Poetry

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Why read it?

1 author picked The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jacqueline Jeynes

Author

As part of my English Literature studies, I was instantly taken by the desperation and reality of life for these very young men fighting in the trenches during WWI.

Even if poetry is not your preferred style, for anyone interested in military history, Owen’s poems describe the stark fear and appalling conditions for the soldiers and the clear incompetence of those in charge.

They are hauntingly vivid in his descriptions of their existence and, of course, the inhumanity of war. It is particularly sad that he died as hostilities ended.

From Jacqueline's list on futility of War since Helen of Troy.