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- Owen is recounting his fist hand experiences of fighting in WW1 in this poem.
- He describes the dreadful conditions of the battlefront and gruesomely depicts the death of a fellow soldier from a gas attack.
- It is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of war, opposite to pro-war, patriotic ideas of the time.
- Owen makes use of rhyme, mostly on alternate line endings.
- Irregular structure reflects life as a soldier.
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- The opening image of the soldiers, “Bent double”, “coughing like hags”, suggests they have been physically broken by war. They are exhausted and dirty - they “trudge”, they march “asleep” and they are “drunk with fatigue”.
- The use of the exclamation mark and capitalisation in “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!” suggests the urgency and fear of the impending gas attack.
- The stand-alone stanza, together with the verbs “guttering, choking, drowning” reinforced the horror of the soldier caught in the attack. The verb “drowning” also suggests the impenetrability of the gas and how it is invading his lungs.
- The repetition of “dreams” emphasises how war has infiltrated his sleep, how he can never have peace, not even when he is sleeping.
- Final words – “the old Lie”, allows Owen to highlight how war is not honourable or glorious, but cruel, degrading, dirty and horrifying
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- The first stanza has a slow, turgid pace due to the first sentence layering clause on top of clause. This creates a turgid tone, reflecting the soldiers’ feeling that the march will never end.
- However, the second stanza is fast paced through one word sentences and exclamation marks. This reflects the sense of panic as the gas attack unfolds.
- The pace slows again in the final stanza to reflect the feeling that war is never ending. Owen uses the second person (“you”, “my friend”) to address the reader personally, creating an uncomfortable and accusatory tone. These final lines are clearly aimed at those in command.
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- Wilfred Owen was killed in action on 4 November 1918 exactly one week (almost to the hour) before the signing of the Armistice, which ended the First World War.
- His mother received the telegram informing her of his death on Armistice Day, as the church bells were ringing out in celebration.
- This poem has such detailed imagery, even by today's standards, it is still thought of as an unforgettable excoriation of World War I with the use of its intense tone, it truly gives the reader an insight of what the feeling of being on the front line would have been like.
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