Book contents
- A History of World War One Poetry
- A History of World War One Poetry
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Literary Contexts
- Part II Nations and Voices
- Part III Poets
- Chapter 20 Non-Combatants
- Chapter 21 Edward Thomas (1878–1917)
- Chapter 22 Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
- Chapter 23 Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) and Edmund Blunden (1896–1974)
- Chapter 24 Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966)
- Chapter 25 Mary Borden (1886–1968)
- Chapter 26 Georg Trakl (1887–1914)
- Chapter 27 Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918)
- Chapter 28 Ivor Gurney (1890–1937)
- Chapter 29 Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
- Chapter 30 David Jones (1895–1974)
- Part IV
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 29 - Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
from Part III - Poets
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2023
- A History of World War One Poetry
- A History of World War One Poetry
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Literary Contexts
- Part II Nations and Voices
- Part III Poets
- Chapter 20 Non-Combatants
- Chapter 21 Edward Thomas (1878–1917)
- Chapter 22 Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
- Chapter 23 Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) and Edmund Blunden (1896–1974)
- Chapter 24 Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966)
- Chapter 25 Mary Borden (1886–1968)
- Chapter 26 Georg Trakl (1887–1914)
- Chapter 27 Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918)
- Chapter 28 Ivor Gurney (1890–1937)
- Chapter 29 Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
- Chapter 30 David Jones (1895–1974)
- Part IV
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The iconic image of Wilfred Owen as the ‘poet of pity’ has reinforced a one-dimensional understanding of his poems that are more than just the sum of their emotional impact: they reimagine and exceed his major literary influences.This chapter explores the multi-layered achievement of Owen's work, both formal and thematic, that continues to invite re-reading and interpretation.In bearing witness for those unable and/or unwilling to articulate their war experiences, he turned his perspective outwards, away from the solipsism of his adolescence and pre-war adulthood, towards the soldiers he led and with whom he served. Yet Owen saw only five poems published in his lifetime; his posthumous reputation was shaped by other poets including Siegfried Sassoon, Edith Sitwell, Edmund Blunden, Cecil Day-Lewis, and Jon Stallworthy.This chapter therefore also explores the cultivation of Owen’s mythic status and his poems’ place in national memory.
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- Information
- A History of World War One Poetry , pp. 473 - 487Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023