Soldier poets of the Great War (VII): The enduring power of Wilfred Owen’s words

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Wednesday, March 6, 2013 - 11:43 AM Share

Of all the World War I poets, Wilfred Owen stands up best, I think (and yes, I do know I am far from alone). His words feel much more modern to me, almost contemporary. "And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds." Great word control.

Here are two other passages from him:

The burying-party, picks and shovels in their shaking grasp,

Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice . . . .

And then there is this:

Happy are those who lose imagination:

They have enough to carry with ammunition.

And of course if you haven't read his great poem about a gas attack, you should do that right now.

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POPSIQQ

6:34 PM ET

March 6, 2013

PTSD

That poetry may have been, along with the newfangled 'treatment' for such psychic wounds, what gave Owen the ability to go back into those trenches. That and the cameraderie of those facing imminent death that he couldn't find in a rest home in Scotland.

The same thing that survivors in the opposite trenches turned into round two some 20 years later.

I wonder how he would have fared had he survived?

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008.

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