Insensibility
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I
Happy are men who yet before they are killed Can let their veins run cold. Whom no compassion fleers Or makes their feet Sore on the alleys cobbled with their brothers. The front line withers, But they are troops who fade, not flowers For poets’ tearful fooling: Men, gaps for filling: Losses, who might have fought Longer; but no one bothers. II And some cease feeling Even themselves or for themselves. Dullness best solves The tease and doubt of shelling, And Chance’s strange arithmetic Comes simpler than the reckoning of their shilling. They keep no check on armies’ decimation. III Happy are these who lose imagination: They have enough to carry with ammunition. Their spirit drags no pack. Their old wounds, save with cold, can not more ache. Having seen all things red, Their eyes are rid Of the hurt of the colour of blood forever. And terror’s first constriction over, Their hearts remain small-drawn. Their senses in some scorching cautery of battle Now long since ironed, Can laugh among the dying, unconcerned. IV Happy the soldier home, with not a notion How somewhere, every dawn, some men attack, And many sighs are drained. Happy the lad whose mind was never trained: His days are worth forgetting more than not. He sings along the march Which we march taciturn, because of dusk, The long, forlorn, relentless trend From larger day to huger night. V We wise, who with a thought besmirch Blood over all our soul, How should we see our task But through his blunt and lashless eyes? Alive, he is not vital overmuch; Dying, not mortal overmuch; Nor sad, nor proud, Nor curious at all. He cannot tell Old men’s placidity from his. VI But cursed are dullards whom no cannon stuns, That they should be as stones; Wretched are they, and mean With paucity that never was simplicity. By choice they made themselves immune To pity and whatever moans in man Before the last sea and the hapless stars; Whatever mourns when many leave these shores; Whatever shares The eternal reciprocity of tears. |
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About the poem
This is one of Owen's longest and most challenging poems. In it, he contrasts those who desensitise themselves to the horrors of war in order to survive, to the unfeeling, inhuman generals who have no excuse for their lack of compassion. The poem also explores the way war destroys the youth of the soldiers - a common theme running through much of Owen's poetry. He does not condemn soldiers who become 'insensible' (desensitised) to death and destruction - he understands it is necessary to survival. But at the same time, he acknowledges that many soldiers (including himself) cannot disassociate and that those who do, do so at a great cost. They lose their vitality, youth, and even their humanity.
The poem's structure looks random but it is structured around a central idea. The first three stanzas explore the different ways men in battle make themselves insensible - losing compassion (stanza 1), fear (stanza 2) and imagination (stanza 3). He then goes on to reflect on the insensibility of those who know no better - the soldiers who have not yet been to war in stanza 4. Stanza 5 explains the reason these men need to desensitise themselves. Stanza 6 switches from the tone of sympathy and pity to condemn the generals at home who don't care about the boys they send to death and mental torture.
The poem is a poem of contrasts. Youthful vitality is juxtaposed against weary age; pity against bitter disgust; life against death and passion against dispassionate insensitivity.
The poem's structure looks random but it is structured around a central idea. The first three stanzas explore the different ways men in battle make themselves insensible - losing compassion (stanza 1), fear (stanza 2) and imagination (stanza 3). He then goes on to reflect on the insensibility of those who know no better - the soldiers who have not yet been to war in stanza 4. Stanza 5 explains the reason these men need to desensitise themselves. Stanza 6 switches from the tone of sympathy and pity to condemn the generals at home who don't care about the boys they send to death and mental torture.
The poem is a poem of contrasts. Youthful vitality is juxtaposed against weary age; pity against bitter disgust; life against death and passion against dispassionate insensitivity.
Analysis of the poem.
STANZA ONE: LACK OF COMPASSION
The repetition of "Happy are these" and "Happy are men" alludes to the Beatitudes of Christ. The Beatitudes list great human values. Ironically, these "Happy" and 'blessed' soldiers have lost all these values. Owen also appears to be answering the question of William Wordsworth's "Character of the Happy Warrior" which paints a romantic and idealised picture of soldiers at war. In response he paints a much darker, unromantic picture. The first stanza of the poem depicts the soldiers who have desensitised themselves to the horrors of war. The metaphor of men who "let their veins run cold" creates the image of a lack of passion and humanity. It is juxtaposed oddly with "Happy are men" to show how the war has subverted human values. (It shows how messed up the whole thing is - people shouldn't be happy that they've lost all their human compassion). Owen amplifies this idea in his even more shocking metaphor of men whose feet don't get sore as they walk over "alleys cobbled with their brothers". Owen's metaphor evokes an image of inhumanity in the face of mass slaughter.
The front line of the war shrinks as more and more soldiers die. Owen juxtaposes the two ways of viewing such mass slaughter. An 'insensible' soldier sees only "troops that fade" whilst the more romantic poets sees men as metaphorical "flowers / For poets' tearful fooling." As in Anthem for Doomed Youth, Owen is saddened (and at times furious) at the way war reduces the value of human life. This is evident in the dehumanising metonymy of "Men" as nothing more than "gaps for filling". The key idea here is that soldiers stop seeing their comrades as friends and human lives - instead they are just bodies in the line. When they die, they leave gaps that someone else has to fill. They are dehumanised as "gaps" and "losses", over which "no one bothers". |
STANZA TWO: LACK OF FEAR/SELF-CONCERN
Whilst the first stanza explores the insensible soldier's lack of compassion for others, stanza two examines the soldiers who numb themselves to their own fears. Owen describes the horrific daily uncertainty of the soldier's life as "The tease and doubt of shelling". The word choice suggests it is a game and amplifies the tension of the situation which is contrasted and negated (wiped out) by the soldiers' "Dullness". The image is extended in the personification of "Chance's strange arithmetic" suggesting that men's lives are just playthings - stakes in a game of chance. The arithmetic is "strange" because there is no rhyme nor reason in the decision of who dies and who lives. In order to survive, men have to give up caring about their lives - they must 'dull' themselves.
Whilst the first stanza explores the insensible soldier's lack of compassion for others, stanza two examines the soldiers who numb themselves to their own fears. Owen describes the horrific daily uncertainty of the soldier's life as "The tease and doubt of shelling". The word choice suggests it is a game and amplifies the tension of the situation which is contrasted and negated (wiped out) by the soldiers' "Dullness". The image is extended in the personification of "Chance's strange arithmetic" suggesting that men's lives are just playthings - stakes in a game of chance. The arithmetic is "strange" because there is no rhyme nor reason in the decision of who dies and who lives. In order to survive, men have to give up caring about their lives - they must 'dull' themselves.
STANZA THREE: LACK OF IMAGINATION AND PASSION
In stanza three, Owen comments that imagination (like self-preservation and human compassion) is a hindrance to a soldier's survival. He claims the men "have enough to carry with ammunition", implying that imagination is a burden. The burden of imagination is emphasised in the metaphor "Their spirit drags no pack". Here he is saying that these men's spirit is not weighed down by guilt and horror of war - it "drags no pack". The "old wounds" that "can not more ache" represent emotional pain rather than physical pain that the desensitised soldier does not have to feel. They have seen so much blood that they are no longer bothered by the sight of it.
Terror is depicted as a "constriction" (like a strong squeeze) that shrinks the heart. Owen suggests that this terror is responsible for the men's lack of compassion. Their hearts have stayed metaphorically "small-drawn" - shrivelled and shrunken. While he is pretending to be glad for these men, the audience is saddened that they have lost so much of their humanity.
Blood imagery continues all through the poem, its repetition filling the reader's mind with images of spurting life-blood. It is represented in "all things red", "the hurt of the colour of blood", "small-drawn" hearts and the "scorching cautery of battle" (cautery is the act of burning a wound to stop it from bleeding. The idea here is that battle has 'cauterised these men's hearts, stopping them from feeling). Against all this imagery of blood, is juxtaposed the soldiers who "Can laugh among the dying, unconcerned." This final line is made all the more disturbing by the sharp contrast between the horror the reader is experiencing and the cool actions of the insensible soldier.
In stanza three, Owen comments that imagination (like self-preservation and human compassion) is a hindrance to a soldier's survival. He claims the men "have enough to carry with ammunition", implying that imagination is a burden. The burden of imagination is emphasised in the metaphor "Their spirit drags no pack". Here he is saying that these men's spirit is not weighed down by guilt and horror of war - it "drags no pack". The "old wounds" that "can not more ache" represent emotional pain rather than physical pain that the desensitised soldier does not have to feel. They have seen so much blood that they are no longer bothered by the sight of it.
Terror is depicted as a "constriction" (like a strong squeeze) that shrinks the heart. Owen suggests that this terror is responsible for the men's lack of compassion. Their hearts have stayed metaphorically "small-drawn" - shrivelled and shrunken. While he is pretending to be glad for these men, the audience is saddened that they have lost so much of their humanity.
Blood imagery continues all through the poem, its repetition filling the reader's mind with images of spurting life-blood. It is represented in "all things red", "the hurt of the colour of blood", "small-drawn" hearts and the "scorching cautery of battle" (cautery is the act of burning a wound to stop it from bleeding. The idea here is that battle has 'cauterised these men's hearts, stopping them from feeling). Against all this imagery of blood, is juxtaposed the soldiers who "Can laugh among the dying, unconcerned." This final line is made all the more disturbing by the sharp contrast between the horror the reader is experiencing and the cool actions of the insensible soldier.
Owen also 'rejoices' about the "lad whose mind was never trained" - young boys who are not yet soldiers but are still filled with romantic images of war. Here, youth is juxtaposed against experience as the boy "sings along the march / Which we march taciturn." (Taciturn means kind of surly; non-communicative; grumpy and cynical). The contrast is furthered by assonance as short vowel sounds depicting the boy marching in play are replaced by long vowel sounds and long sentence in "we march taciturn.. / From larger day to huger night". The relentless and overwhelming nature of war's hardship is reflected in the triple adjectives and labouring iambic rhythm in "long, forlorn, relentless trend" and the idea of "larger day" becoming "huger night".
Death or loss of youth is symbolised as "dusk" and "huger night" and we get the sense that there is no escape for the soldier on the front lines. |
STANZA V
The poem switches to first person at the beginning of the stanza, lending authenticity to the experience. Owen goes on to ask the rhetorical question asking how a wise soldier who understands the way his soul has been made filthy should survive the experience. The guilt of the thinking, feeling man is revealed in the metaphor of "Blood over all our soul". Owen answers his question that the only way to "see our task" is "through his blunt and lashless eyes". The word 'blunt' suggests the desensitised soldier makes himself dull and numb while "lashless eyes" suggest a lack of creativity and sensitivity.
Owen lists the consequences of shutting off human emotions. He has repeatedly called this emotionless soldier as "Happy" but now reveals he has beem made "not vital...not mortal...Nor sad, nor proud, / Nor curious" - in fact, he's not much of anything. Owen is showing us that the soldier has been diminished by the experience. Visually, even the lines of poetry shrink in length as thought the human the soldier once was is disappearing.
Finally, Owen evokes the image of youth giving way to age which is so common in his poetry to depict the way the war robs young men of their youth. He uses the simile, "He cannot tell / Old men's placidity from his." Owen is saying that this survivor of war has become listless and docile like an old man.
The poem switches to first person at the beginning of the stanza, lending authenticity to the experience. Owen goes on to ask the rhetorical question asking how a wise soldier who understands the way his soul has been made filthy should survive the experience. The guilt of the thinking, feeling man is revealed in the metaphor of "Blood over all our soul". Owen answers his question that the only way to "see our task" is "through his blunt and lashless eyes". The word 'blunt' suggests the desensitised soldier makes himself dull and numb while "lashless eyes" suggest a lack of creativity and sensitivity.
Owen lists the consequences of shutting off human emotions. He has repeatedly called this emotionless soldier as "Happy" but now reveals he has beem made "not vital...not mortal...Nor sad, nor proud, / Nor curious" - in fact, he's not much of anything. Owen is showing us that the soldier has been diminished by the experience. Visually, even the lines of poetry shrink in length as thought the human the soldier once was is disappearing.
Finally, Owen evokes the image of youth giving way to age which is so common in his poetry to depict the way the war robs young men of their youth. He uses the simile, "He cannot tell / Old men's placidity from his." Owen is saying that this survivor of war has become listless and docile like an old man.
STANZA VI
The poem's tone switches from a tone of pity and sympathy for what has been lost to one of bitter condemnation. The stanza begins with 'But' to suggest what is coming is a different kind of insensibility. Instead of blessed or "happy" he calls these men "cursed" and "dullards". There is none of the compassion here for the soldiers we saw in the other stanzas of the poem. It has been replaced with contempt. As in Dulce et Decorum Est and the closing lines of The Next War, Owen is expressing his bitter contempt for the generals who send the boys to war. They have no excuse - "no cannon stuns" them - they haven't experienced the horrors of the war. Owen uses the simile of "they should be as stones" to depict their heartless lack of humanity. He layers descriptive words such as 'wretched', 'mean' and 'paucity' and "immune to pity" to emphasise his disgust. He is saying these generals have "By choice ... made themselves immune / To pity and whatever moans in man". The alliteration of 'm' and 'n' creates a mournful sound that is amplified in the long vowel assonance or pararhyme of "last" and "stars"; "mourns" and "shores" and "shares" and "tears". The long vowels draw out the rhythm as the poem returns to its gentler, sadder tone. It's as if Owen is so worn out by his own sadness that he cannot stay angry. Or perhaps the dead soldiers are more deserving of his attention and emotion.
He poetically depicts death as "the last sea and the hapless stars" and the final five lines of the poem demonstrate all the imagination and compassion Owen has kept in order to tell the 'truth' to the people at home. He expresses his great sympathy for all who mourn and demonstrate their empathy for shedding tears for another's suffering in "the eternal reciprocity of tears".
Resources
Annotated analysis of the poem. |
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An exercise worksheet that asks students to write short, concise paragraphs based on six statements.
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Useful Sites
Here you will find an outstanding analysis of the poem with a really strong academic voice. The analysis is intelligent and accurate (though it may be a little subtle for the HSC). You should read this, even if just to see what a genuine academic voice should sound like. The writer expresses himself intelligently without pomposity.
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This analysis looks at
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