Strange Meeting

Features
Background
 By Wilfred Owen, a poet who wrote about the First World War, having
been a soldier in the British Army
 Written spring 1918 – war raging in Europe, soon to reach its conclusion.
The audience, the British public, was awakened to the reality of war at
this point because it had lasted longer than propaganda had promised.
 Based on Sussoon’s the Rear Guard
 Sigfried Sussoon called it, “Owen’s passport to immortality,”
 Title based on a line from Shelly’s (a poet) The Revolt of Islam – gone
forth whom no strange meeting did befall.
 Recounts a dramatic meeting between 2 dead soldiers who had fought on
opposing sides. As they are no longer in conflict, they see beyond hatred
and proclaim how war is worse than hell and robs men of their lives and
sanity.
 The oxymoron Strange Meeting is used because it was a meeting between
an enemy soldier and British soldier (as Owen saw himself as we can see
from the final conversation between the men, when it is revealed Owen
killed the other soldier, hence he must be a soldier too).
 It is also strange that these men are in hell because they fought and died
for their countries – mocking Ducle et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori (tis
sweet and right to die for one’s country)
 Therefore, the message of this poem was to express the horrors of war on
the battlefield and to depict how war would bring about consequences for
the world.
Structure
 Tone: Melancholy – as shown through the use of personification in the
phrase, “sullen hall.” Sullen literally means sad so it represents the sheer
melancholy of the area Owen is in – asserting the tone
 Split into 5 stanzas, the first discusses Owen’s entry into a deep tunnel,
the second is his observations of those around him and his recounting of
his encounter with a dead soldier, revealing that they are in hell. The 3rd
stanza is composed of a conversation between them, with the majority of
it coming from the enemy soldier regarding his life before and during the
war. The 4th stanza describes his psychological problems induced by the
war, the final stanza addresses and clarifies the relationship between the
2 men, Owen is the man who killed this dead soldier.
 pararhymes are ubiquitous in this poem (such as the groined-groaned
pararhyme), except in final line – to add to the melancholy tone of the
poem
Themes:
Horrors of war and how the wider world and soldiers suffer because of war

Exploration
1. How people, even those who are not soldiers, suffer because of war?
2. How are the mental injuries of the soldier, incurred because of the war,
depicted?
 LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
 “It seemed,” – diction: use of the word seemed indicates a lack of assurance and
certainly that makes it clear to the readers that this poem is about a dream or
hallucination
 “escaped,”- diction: denotes leaving something horrible behind, and this is used
to explain the how Owen despised the war, but when we find out that Owen’s
character is in hell, it is very ironic that hell is better than war

Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped

 “profound,” diction: physically deep- allusion to hell being beneath the earth
 “long since scooped,” diction and alliteration: “long,” the tunnel has existed for a
long time and has been in used for a while, this sets the stage for the phrase,
“titanic wars,”, as together it shows that war has claimed lives throughout
history, because we later discover that Owen is in hell

Through granites which titanic wars had groined.

 “titanic wars,” diction: titanic alludes to the Titanic, a ship that crashed in April
1912 and killed thousands when it happened, emphasising the number of people
who die in war. It also alludes to the Titans, the fathers of Gods in Greek
mythology. These Titans had existed for eons and hence this shows that wars
have occurred over history, taking so many lives in the process.
 The pararhyme in the fist stanza shows Owen’s uncertainty as to where he is, the
constant past tense shows that he is recounting a dream

Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,

 “encumbered sleepers,”diction: these sleepers are dead soldiers and the word,
“encumbered,” means to be trapped, literally by their equipment and figuratively
by their burden of suffering wrought upon them by the war, reinforcing the
theme of the horrors of war, and stirring up empathy in the public for the
soldiers

Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.

 “in thought or death to be bestirred,” – the men are either dead or very deep in
thought, hence they do not respond to Owen’s presence.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
 “sprang..stared.”- alliteration is used to assert how sudden this action was

With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,

Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
 “bless,” – religious imagery – used in a negative context here (sudden surprise
that is horrifying at the same time), to express Owen’s own dissatisfaction with
the Church for preaching propaganda.

And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,— 

 “smile…sullen hall,” – heroic rhyming couplet, to show how ironic it is that
Owen is in hell despite being a war hero
 “-“ – enjamblement: builds up suspense before Owen reveals that they are in
hell
 “sullen hall,” – personification: adds to the melancholy tone of the text

By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

 “hall-Hell,” – alliterative pararhyme reinforces the sullen mood of the poem.
 “dead smile,” – oxymoron: one cannot smile when one is dead, depicts the
emptiness of the soldier’soul
 “Hell,” – diction: soldiers went to hell, for punishment, because they killed. But
this is what they had to do in war, hence this illustrates how war alters their
morality, so killing is right, contradicting the perception of morals in the
civilised world

With a thousand fears that vision's face was grained;

 Lack of iambic pentameter here to express Owen’s fear
  “thousand fears,” – imagery: represents impact the war has made on the dead
soldier during his lifetime, as he is haunted by his experience in war that Owen
has described as having creating “fears,” in him. This was likely induced by the
horrors he had been exposed to. The word, “thousand,” quantifies this impact,
expressing the number of horrors he had been exposed to
 “grained,” – denotes being reduced to, hence soldier has lost identity has
nothing but fear left, punctuating the sombre tone of the poem while increasing
the audience’s pity for the men who suffer on the battlefield.
Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
 “guns thumped,” – onomatopoeia to express the lack of noise induced by guns in
hell, could represent detachment from the mortal world. Also shows juxtaposes
hell to war, in terms of the noise, as the battlefronts were known to be extremely
noisy with gunfire and the lot.
 “down the flues made moan,” – diction: shows that they no longer had to moan
about cleaning the flues of their guns, the bits that would hold the bullet after it
had started moving, the inner barrel essentially – lack of stress, juxtaposed to
war situation
 This bit makes the point that war is worse than hell, a horrifying realisation in
itself – makes the horror war brings pellucid to the readers.

“Strange friend,” I said, “here is no cause to mourn.” 

 “strange friend,” – paradox: a friend is not unfamiliar to you (i.e strange), but
this is so because they had been enemies on the battlefront but both carry the
familiar burden of pain gained from their time on the battlefront – deepens
audience’ understanding of how these 2 know each other while shocking them as
to how both sides who fought were encumbered by the horror of war, adding to
the theme of the horrors of war.

“None,” said that other, “save the undone years,

 “that other,” – lack of a name or title expresses how war steals the identity of
soldiers away, leaving nothing but consequences that war has wrought upon
them – used by Owen to evoke sympathy in readers with regards to the plight of
the soldiers in war. Lack of identity is a running theme in most Owen poems like
Dulce, AFDY

The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,

Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
 “wildest beauty,”-metaphor: for the soldier’s motivation, his want to defeat the
enemies of his country (patriotism), allows audience to understand why the GY
soldier chose to fight

Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,

 “eyes…braided hair,” – imagery that was associated with women: reinforces idea
that the man did not join the war because of pressure from women, but does
bring up how women commonly reinforced propaganda, encouraging their men
to go to war. However, they ended up sending them off to their deaths. The
inclusion of this reference reminds the audience of the role women played in
propaganda, propagating a poor image of these women in the audience’s mind.

But mocks the steady running of the hour,

 “steady running of the hour,” – alludes to the passing of time as represented in
an hour glass, like an hour-glass running out of sand, by taking part in the war,
he was wasting his time by fighting in the war, and time was running out for him
from that point on – sent him on a course to death – expresses fatal
consequences of war
 However, the hourglass bit could also allude to the idea figure of a woman,
mocking how they sent men to war but now they are crying over their deaths
(through sand pouring down)
And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
 “grieves, grieves,” – repetition: this accentuates how war only results in grief and
nothing else, due to the huge amount of death it causes – convey the emotional
impact of war on the soldiers’ relatives to the British public
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
 “glee – weeping,” – juxtaposition: used compare life with death,
 “glee might many men have laughed,” – explain how humourosu the man was,
as shown through the use of the word, “laughed,” that expresses his ability to
induce laughter. This stresses what he has lost when he died, in the next line

And of my weeping something had been left,

“weeping – laughed,” – juxtaposition: he made people laugh before now he makes
them cry over his death, loss of his life had an effect on those around him as well as
on himself, conveying to the audience that war does not only affect soldiers, it also
affects their loved ones.
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
 “truth untold,”- the true nature of war, that is revealed in the next line, cannot be told
and is a secret, as shown through the use of untold which means to not tell.
Represents how propaganda lies about what the true nature of war is

The pity of war, the pity war distilled.

 This entire line shows how war, when “distilled,” is simply piteous, because of the
suffering it brings upon soldiers and its effect on humanity (see below)
 This is accentuated with the repetition of pity.
 This line has 9 syllables so it stands out like a lone island in the sea of iambic
pentameter
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
 “men will go content with what we spoiled,” – metaphors: men for men at home who
did not fight, we metaphor for government
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
 “discontent vs content,” – juxtaposition is used to highlight the rage felt if they
lost
 Discontent is an abstract noun used to represent the dissatisfaction felt the
soldiers if the war was lost
 “boil bloody,” – alliteration: places stress on the rage the soldiers feel
 “be spilled,” –allusion: to water spilling, this is a metaphor for how the
government viewed the soldiers’ deaths as (spilling water), an affordable waste,
rallying anger towards the government in the readers
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress. 
 “swift,”-diction: used to represent the speed at which the men could attack,
explaining how they have become killing machines, as asserted by its repetition
in the form of swiftness
 “of the tigress,”-metaphor: directly compares the men to tigresses, natural
killing machines and are at the top of the food chain. It is interesting to note that
the tigers only kill to survive, just as the soldiers do – sympathy for soldiers due
to the means they had to resort to in order to survive.
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
 “None will break ranks,” : phrase expresses camaraderie that soldiers had
 However, the hard k repetition mimics the sound of breaking, juxtaposing the
previously mentioned camaraderie
 “trek from progress,” –metaphor: metaphor for how through war, the world
loses its humanity and source of invention and innovation (progress), the trek
 (movement) away from these things. Illustrates how war truly has horrific
consequences for the entire world
Courage was mine, and I had mystery;
Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery: 
To miss the march of this retreating world
 “retreating,” – diction: reinforces the idea behind trek from progress, that
humanity furthers itself from its own development and that we start to devolve
as a species, consequence of war for all, the inevitability of this is asserted in the
next line.
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
 “vain citadels,” metaphor: for cities and towns. “Vain,” connotes uselessness, as
all it has is looks. “not walled,” – lacks a protective barrier, walls on a citadel
were used for security, hence every city is not safe, horrifying the general public
by showing the effect war would have on the world.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels, 
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
 “blood,” – (describes the soldier’s failure to remove his guilt from his
body) metaphor: deaths, “chariot wheels,” metaphor for brain, as brain
thought to have cogs that were shaped similarly to chariot wheels, “go up
and wash them,” – metaphor: for cleansing the soul
 Overall summary: All the deaths that the man causes come back to him
and fill his mind and he must reach inner peace to ensure that guilt is
gone. It is ironic because it was thought that one could only cleanse the
soul of huge amounts of guilt through deaths (go to next line)

Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.

 Line alludes to Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimidations of Immortality,” where
a near identical line is used (line 208) – but it says too deep for tears.
How some of the guilt cannot be released from the soul through crying,
an expression of emotion. This reinforces the morose theme of the poem
while inducing pity in the audience by depicting the plight of soldiers who
fought in World War 1.
I would have poured my spirit without stint
But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
BASED ON LAST 2 LINES
 Poured my spirit – metaphor: trying his hardest to help fight in the war,
“without stint,” (without limitation)
  “not through wounds (meaning death), not on the cess of war,” – (war has
taken so much from them) cess (diction) means tax, how the war has cost
him so much by making him feel guilt and remorse over his killings,
making the audience pity them further, while revealing to them the cost
of war on soldiers.
 Man would have tried his hardest and put up a good fight, but not for the
deaths he caused, the cost of war for him.

Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.

 “Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were,”: (visually shows
their mental suffering) Foreheads of men is a metaphor for the minds of
men, as the brain is located behind the forehead. This metaphor therefore
describes how men had no physical injuries but still had injuries, but of
the mind (forehead)- accentuates how the men suffered from mental
conditions because of the war, increasing the audience’s sympathy for the
man

“I am the enemy you killed, my friend.

 “my friend,” – synecdoche for all enemy soldiers, how in death,
they(soldiers) are all equal, alluding to Dante’s the Divine comedy where
all were equal in hell
 clarifies relationship
I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned
 “Frowned,” diction: Owen’s own dissatisfaction for war
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
 “parried…loath,” parried means to have blocked, personification using
loath describes hands that are unwilling hence the man tried to block but
he was unwilling to save his own life, because he wanted to save his soul.
He could not live wit the guilt he had incurred as a soldier during the war
and hence wanted to die
Let us sleep now. . . .”
  “sleep” – diction: indicates it’s a dream because sleep and dreams come
hand in hand

This last bit is all monosyllabic, showing how these 2 are friends, as using single
syllables was regarded as an informal way of speaking, the way in which you
might speak to your friends (if you have any)