FutilityWilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was born in Shropshire to an English and Welsh family and was best

known for his war poems written whilst he served in the trenches in World War One. He

died in battle only one week before the end of the war.

The term and title of the poem; “Futility “shows how pointless and

worthless war is. “Futility” is Owens’s belief in the worthlessness

of both God and war.

The poem is about an injured, probably dead,

soldier. It's set in France during the First World War. World War I (1914-18) was fought

on most of the continent of Europe

between Germany and the Allies. The poet questions what the point is of life being created if it can be

destroyed so easily.

You should compare this poem with other poems about the same themes: sadness and loss: 'The Falling Leaves',

'Come On, Come Back'; effects of conflict: 'Poppies';

helplessness: 'Belfast Confetti‘

Wilfred Owen – along with his friend and mentor, Siegfried Sassoon – is now thought of as the poet who exposed the

brutalities of trench warfare and the senseless waste of life caused by World War One. Owen spent only four months

fighting and only five weeks in the front line, but the shock of the horrors of war was so great that he decided it was

his task to expose the ‘Pity of War’, to represent in poetry the experiences of the men in his care.

Futilityby Wilfred Owen 

Move him into the sun –Gently its touch awoke him once,

At home, whispering of fields half-sown.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 sidesFull-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?

Move him into the sun –

Gently its touch awoke him once,

At home, whispering of fields half-sown.

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.

The poet begins the poem talking of a certain “him”. We

don't know who he is — he could represent all soldiers

damaged by war or represent a specific soldier.

The sun could stand as a metaphor for the giver of life or it might mean that

the personification of the sun as gentle contrasts with the brutality with war.

Suggests he was a farmer before he had to be a

soldier and also implies lost potential. The poet is

sympathetic to the soldier, and uses a kindand respectful tone to

talk about him.Mentioning ‘France’ suggests the

First World War battlefields.

This line links with the title of ‘Futility’ -there's a resigned tone that suggests that all hope has been lost and the

soldier is dying. This poem challenges

the ideals of young men who define

patriotism as “serving one’s

nation” and it offers readers the

principle that life is futile due to the inevitability of

death.

Nature (the ‘sun’) is personified as powerful but helpless in the

face of war. The word ‘kind’ suggests a friendlier tone.

This suggests he can't move himself and

makes us wonder why.

There is a possible biblical connection here. The repetition of the word ‘him’ implies a reference to Christ. Consider that Christ died for all mans sins. The sacrifice Jesus made for humanity may

be put on the same line as soldiers sacrificing for their nation.

The poet uses a mixture of past and present tenses to show the contrast between

the soldier's life at home and his current situation. The

repeated referencesto waking emphasise the contrast between being

awake and alive and being paralysed or dead.

The snow seems a metaphor for a loss of hope.

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?

Both stanzas start with commands - this could be

suggesting that the reader must face reality.

The first stanza is a practical instruction

about how to help the soldier. In the second

stanza the language becomes more philosophical

as the poet considers whether creation is

worthwhile when life can be ended so quickly.

Here the poet is stating that the sun

was capable of waking plants and seeds and even a

‘cold star’

This idea is repeated from line 4 to show how important it is — nothing will wake the soldier now. This hints that he's died or that he's alive but

incapable of moving himself.

The sun is powerful and brought the

earth to life in the beginning,

but it can't help now.

Makes living human beings sound precious — it's hard

work to create themQuestions the reasons for giving life in war - suggests it's pointless.

‘fatuous’ means unthinkingly foolish. The poet's anger is coming out - he's hinting at the pointlessness of war.

The poet feels bitter about the waste of life caused by war, and frustrated at the pointlessness of creating life

for it to be destroyed by war.

The questions show the poet's emotion building up. He challenges us to agree or disagree with him. The poet

addresses the reader directly, which makes the reader feel more emotionally involved with the poem. The poem

contains commands and questions that challenge the reader to think about why the soldier's life has been wasted. The

rhetorical question creates an atmosphere as Owen implies that it was futile for the sun to have awakened the earth.

The poet mainly uses half rhyme (e.g. "seeds" and "sides") rather than full rhyme, which makes the poem seem less formal

and more conversational.