Futility
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Listen to the Poem |
Move him into the sun--
Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds,-- Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved, - still warm, - too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all? |
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Analysis
The poem begins in the second person with a direct address to "Move him into the sun" which has the effect of immediately engaging the audience in the drama that is unfolding. A soft, sympathetic tone is established through the adverb, "Gently" and the verb, "whispering". The sun is personified as a kindly god - "the kind old sun" which is "whispering of fields unsown" and has the power to wake the dead just as it once awoke the sleeping boy. The image of "fields unsown" is one of the boy's past life on a farm, but it is also a metaphor for the life he has not lived and the experiences he will now never have.
In the second stanza, the speaker reflects on the power of this kindly god, the sun. He asks us to "Think how it wakes the seeds" and "the clays of a cold star". The latter alludes to the power of the sun to actually begin life on earth. He suggests that if the sun can wake a planet, surely it can revive a man. The tone becomes more bewildered with the rhetorical questions, "Are limbs... are sides... - still warm, - too hard to stir". The tone is shifting from the gentle, sad recognition that a comrade has died to this bewildered pondering. The short question, "Was it for this the clay grew tall?" questions the point of life on earth at all and makes way for exasperated bitterness of the final couplet. The pause, followed by an exclaimed question: "- O what makes fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth's sleep at all?" suggests that the speaker is fed up with the futility of life itself. He has grown bitter and lost his faith in the sun, which was "kind" in the first stanza but is now described as "fatuous".
Throughout the poem, Owen employs pararhyme, which enhances the poem's rhythm, at the same time creating a dissonance which is unsettling. The poem's structure - a fourteen line sonnet, broken into two halves is also discordant for the same reason. In "Futility" we see a move away from the deep bitterness of "Dulce et decorum est" and the earlier poems' noise and chaos. "Futility" is much quieter, more saddened, fed up and frustrated, rather than angry. A sense of despair and hopelessness has replaced the fury as Owen's ideas evolve.
In the second stanza, the speaker reflects on the power of this kindly god, the sun. He asks us to "Think how it wakes the seeds" and "the clays of a cold star". The latter alludes to the power of the sun to actually begin life on earth. He suggests that if the sun can wake a planet, surely it can revive a man. The tone becomes more bewildered with the rhetorical questions, "Are limbs... are sides... - still warm, - too hard to stir". The tone is shifting from the gentle, sad recognition that a comrade has died to this bewildered pondering. The short question, "Was it for this the clay grew tall?" questions the point of life on earth at all and makes way for exasperated bitterness of the final couplet. The pause, followed by an exclaimed question: "- O what makes fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth's sleep at all?" suggests that the speaker is fed up with the futility of life itself. He has grown bitter and lost his faith in the sun, which was "kind" in the first stanza but is now described as "fatuous".
Throughout the poem, Owen employs pararhyme, which enhances the poem's rhythm, at the same time creating a dissonance which is unsettling. The poem's structure - a fourteen line sonnet, broken into two halves is also discordant for the same reason. In "Futility" we see a move away from the deep bitterness of "Dulce et decorum est" and the earlier poems' noise and chaos. "Futility" is much quieter, more saddened, fed up and frustrated, rather than angry. A sense of despair and hopelessness has replaced the fury as Owen's ideas evolve.
Other resources
- Visit https://crossref-it.info/textguide/wilfred-owen-selected-poems/36/2593 for a short analysis of the poem.
- At https://poemanalysis.com/futility-by-wilfred-owen-poem-analysis/ you will find a longer analysis that also discusses the poem as an elegy.
- At http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/poetry/futility you will find some analysis and also, towards the end of the article, further insight into the poem's ideas.
- BBC Bitesize at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetryconflict/futility2.shtml contains short, sharp informative articles on aspects of the poem and its context. Check out all of the pages on the poem.
Activities and Tasks
Research and annotate the poem, then complete the essay below to compare the ideas and techniques of 'Dulce et decorum est' and 'Futility'.
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essay_dulce_and_futility.docx | |
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File Type: | docx |