Welcome, fellow explorers of language and literature! Today, we embark on a profound journey into the heart of Wilfred Owen’s poignant poem, “The Send Off.” This powerful work captures the quiet tragedy and grim reality of soldiers departing for the front lines, a theme Owen explored with unparalleled honesty during World War I. Prepare to delve into its depths, uncovering the layers of meaning, the masterful use of language, and the enduring message that resonates through time.
The Send Off
By Wilfred Owen
Down the close, darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding‑shed,
And lined the train with faces grimly gay.
Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray
As men are dead.
Dull porters watched them, and a casual tramp
Stood staring hard,
Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.
Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp
Winked to the guard.
So secretly, like wrongs hushed up, they went.
They were not ours:
We never heard to which front these were sent.
Nor there if they yet mock what women meant
Who gave them flowers.
Shall they return to beatings of great bells
In wild trainloads?
A few, a few, too few for drums and yells,
May creep back, silent, to still village wells
Up half‑known roads.
Understanding “The Send Off”: A Glimpse into War’s Quiet Tragedy
“The Send Off” by Wilfred Owen is a stark and deeply moving portrayal of soldiers departing for the battlefields of World War I. Far from glorifying war, the poem captures the somber, almost anonymous atmosphere surrounding a train carrying young men to an uncertain fate. It is a meditation on loss, the anonymity of the individual in mass conflict, and the profound disconnect between the hopeful intentions of those who send soldiers off and the grim reality awaiting them.
The central idea of “The Send Off” revolves around the tragic waste of human life and the futility of war. Owen strips away any romantic notions, presenting a scene devoid of grand patriotic displays. Instead, the focus is on the silent, almost shameful departure, emphasizing the quiet moments before battle where the true human cost begins to register. The poem questions the meaning of sending young men toward possible death, highlighting themes of detachment, resignation, and a chilling sense of foreboding.
For many, this poem serves as a powerful reminder of the often overlooked aspects of war: the quiet goodbyes, the unspoken fears, and the stark contrast between public sentiment and private suffering. It challenges readers to look beyond the fanfare and consider the individual lives irrevocably altered by conflict.
Exploring the Poetic Craft in “The Send Off”
Wilfred Owen was a master of employing literary and poetic devices to amplify the emotional impact and thematic depth of his work. In “The Send Off,” these techniques are used with precision, creating a haunting atmosphere and conveying a profound anti-war message.
Imagery: Painting a Somber Picture
Owen’s vivid imagery is central to the poem’s powerful effect, creating a stark visual landscape that foreshadows the soldiers’ fate. The opening lines immediately establish a sense of foreboding:
Down the close, darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding‑shed,
The “darkening lanes” suggest not only the time of day but also the grim, unknown future awaiting the soldiers. This darkness is contrasted with the chilling image of life-like death:
Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray
As men are dead.
Here, the traditional symbols of celebration or farewell, “wreath and spray,” are twisted into an image of funereal adornment, associating the soldiers with death even before their departure. This powerful visual immediately conveys the poem’s tragic undertone.
Diction: The Power of Word Choice
Owen’s carefully chosen language, or diction, is both precise and evocative, contributing significantly to the poem’s melancholic and resigned tone. Words like “darkening,” “grimly gay,” “dull,” “casual,” “unmoved,” and “secretly” all build an atmosphere of quiet despair and detachment. The phrase “grimly gay,” for instance, is an oxymoron that perfectly captures the forced cheerfulness and underlying dread felt by the soldiers.
Simile: Unveiling Hidden Truths
The poem employs powerful similes to draw striking comparisons that reveal deeper meanings. One of the most impactful lines uses simile to equate the soldiers’ departure with something shameful:
So secretly, like wrongs hushed up, they went.
This comparison suggests that the departure, and by extension the war itself, is a hidden, uncomfortable truth that society prefers to keep quiet. It highlights the moral ambiguity and the tragic cost that is often concealed from public view.
Personification: Indifferent Observers
Owen gives human qualities to inanimate objects, a device known as personification, to emphasize the impersonal nature of the soldiers’ fate and the world’s indifference:
Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp
Winked to the guard.
The “signals nodded” and the “lamp winked” suggest a cold, almost mechanical acceptance of the soldiers’ journey into danger. These actions imply a lack of human emotion or concern, reinforcing the sense of anonymity and the vast, uncaring machinery of war.
Symbolism: Journeys and Fates
Various elements in the poem function as potent symbols. The “trains” themselves symbolize the irreversible journey into the unknown, carrying lives away from safety and towards destruction. The “wreath and spray,” as noted earlier, symbolize mourning and foreshadow death. Furthermore, the “bells” and “drums” in the final stanza symbolize traditional heroic welcomes, which the poem suggests will be denied to most of the returning soldiers, thus symbolizing the futility of their sacrifice.
Sound Devices: Crafting the Auditory Experience
Owen masterfully uses sound devices to enhance the poem’s musicality and emotional resonance:
- Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds adds emphasis and rhythm. For example, the phrase “stood staring hard” draws attention to the observer’s quiet contemplation. The jarring contrast in “grimly gay” highlights the soldiers’ conflicted emotions.
- Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds creates a flowing, melodic quality. The long “a” sound in “Darkning lanes they sang their way” contributes to the poem’s melancholic atmosphere, drawing the reader into the scene.
- Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words adds to the poem’s texture. The “w” sound in “white with wreath and spray” reinforces the visual image and the emotional weight of the scene.
Rhyme and Rhythm: A Subtle Discomfort
Owen’s use of rhyme in “The Send Off” is sophisticated and often unsettling. While some lines feature full rhymes, Owen frequently employs pararhyme (also known as half rhyme or near rhyme), where only the consonants match, but the vowels differ (e.g., “shed” and “dead,” “went” and “sent”). This technique creates a sense of dissonance and unease, mirroring the poem’s themes of disruption and tragedy. The rhyme scheme often follows an ABAAB pattern within the quintains, but the subtle imperfections of pararhyme prevent it from feeling overly neat or comforting, instead contributing to the poem’s somber, unresolved mood.
Stanza Structure: Five-Line Reflections
The poem is composed of four five-line stanzas, known as quintains. This consistent structure provides a framework, yet the content within each stanza often breaks expectations. The relatively short, contained stanzas allow Owen to present distinct moments or ideas, each contributing to the overall narrative arc of departure, anonymity, questioning, and the grim prognosis of return. The brevity of the stanzas can also evoke a sense of fleeting moments, reflecting the transient nature of the soldiers’ lives and the quick, unnoticed send-off.
Rhetorical Question: A Haunting Inquiry
The poem concludes with a powerful rhetorical question that forces the reader to confront the likely outcome for the soldiers:
Shall they return to beatings of great bells
In wild trainloads?
A few, a few, too few for drums and yells,
May creep back, silent, to still village wells
Up half‑known roads.
This question, posed without expectation of a positive answer, underscores the slim hope of a heroic return. It highlights the tragic reality that most will not come back, or if they do, it will be in a quiet, unnoticed manner, far from the celebratory “beatings of great bells.”
Tone: Melancholy and Resignation
The overriding tone of “The Send Off” is one of profound melancholy, resignation, and quiet despair. Owen deliberately avoids overt patriotism or glorification of war. Instead, the tone is detached, observational, and deeply empathetic to the soldiers’ plight, focusing on the tragic cost of human life and the futility of their sacrifice.
The Enduring Legacy of “The Send Off”
“The Send Off” stands as a testament to Wilfred Owen’s genius in capturing the grim realities of war. Through his masterful deployment of imagery, diction, figurative language, and sound devices, Owen creates a poem that is not only a historical document but also a timeless reflection on human suffering and the quiet tragedies that often accompany grand conflicts. It challenges us to look beyond the surface, to question the narratives of glory, and to remember the individual lives caught in the machinery of war. This poem continues to resonate, offering a powerful and poignant commentary on the human cost of conflict, ensuring Owen’s voice remains an essential part of our literary heritage.