Wilfred Owen

Inspection

Written in August/September 1917 at Craiglockhart

Later listed it under "inhumanity in War” The diction is largely colloquial, the tone

matter-of-fact and tinged with bitternessSassoon's influence is strong

Context

Sacrifice Christ's sacrifice for man's redemptionSacrificing your life for the better of the

country – willing to be insulted and treated as inferior

BloodReferred to as a dirty stain so could be seen

as a stain of guilt

Themes

Stanza 1Owen can be recognised as the officerConscious of his rank and the importance of

maintaining discipline

Stanza 2Still seen as the officer, slightly unhappy on reflection

about the man’s punishmentSeeking him out for a quiet chat, man to man

Stanza 3Young soldier’s viewpoint who’s treated unfairlyA young man of evident education and philosophical

bent

Plotline

‘You! What d’you mean by this?’ I rapped.‘You dare come on parade like this?’‘Please, sir, it’s -’ ”Old yer mouth,’ the sergeant snapped.‘I takes ‘is name, sir?’ – ‘Please, and then dismiss.’

Some days ‘confined to camp’ he got,For being ‘dirty on parade’.He told me, afterwards, the damned spotWas blood, his own. ‘Well, blood is dirt,’ I said

Reference to Macbeth; stain of

guilt

Punishment

Onomatopoeic sounds add to the feeling of menace

Ignorance, unsympathetic, single minded

Inspection parade

Acceptance of warfare

Heavy beat promises drama to come; foreshadows

Blood’s dirt,’ he laughed, looking awayFar off to where his wound had bledAnd almost merged for ever into clay.‘The world is washing out its stains,’ he said.

‘It doesn’t like our cheeks so red:Young blood’s its great objection.But when we’re duly white-washed, being dead,The race will bear Field-Marshal God’s inspection.’

Scorn and some sadness ; an army commander thinks he’s

God and God turned into army commander all in one?

Shows that little boys were at war & were

being treated like this

Mockery; lack of respect Reveals the soldier as

the poem’s “truth-teller”

Material stains can be easily removed; stains of guilt cannot be removed

by physical means