The Next War
By Wilfred Owen
War’s a joke for me and you,
Wile we know such dreams are true.
– Siegfried SassoonOut there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death,-
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland,-
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath,-
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn’t writhe.
He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughedShrapnel. We chorussed when he sang aloft,
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, -knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.
Summary of The Next War
- Popularity of “The Next War”: As a war poem ‘The Next War’ was written by Wilfred Owen, a popular English veteran and poet. This matchless poem first appeared in print in 1917 during WWI. While the sonnet contains a war theme throughout, Owen’s originality stems from his thematic thread of confronting death and familiarity and navigating them at the same time, which is why it is so well-liked.
- “The Next War” As a Representative of War: The poem opens with a two-line epigraph from Siegfried Sassoon, another pacifist soldierly soul whose disgust toward war became a popular strain at that time. Owen begins his sonnet with a recognition of his own trivialization of war and describes how he and his comrades have knowingly or unknowingly approached death, engaged in conversation with him, and even taken respite alongside him. They have become well-acquainted with Death, perceiving it as a separate entity that breathes in unison with them, yet simultaneously unleashes barrages of bullets that send them to the afterlife in droves. Later, he once again uses apostrophe in addressing death, asserting that death has never been their foe, since they have lived alongside him as a friend. Also, soldiers do not get salaries to fight Death; they knowingly enter the world of war to brag about exploits and keep their flags high but, in fact, such soldiers fight against Death and not against other men for flags.
- Major Themes in “The Next War”: Reality of war, death and false pride over national symbols are three major thematic strands of the poem. The poet beautifully sums up all of them in the epigraphic citation of Sassoon at the beginning of the poem. The rest he has done by presenting death as a persona sitting with them and then sending them to the other world. Owen is of the view that they have lived side by side Death and Death is their friend. He means that every person whether he is a soldier or not is to die but actually, the war is against Death, not flags or for false pride that the people go to war for.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Next War
The use of literary devices is crucial in both poetry and prose, as they add aesthetic value and make the text more compelling to read.The analysis of these devices in the poem is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i/ in “Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland” and “Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand”; and the sound of /a/ in “He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed”.
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /w/ in “We whistled while”.
- Anaphora: The poem shows the user of anaphora as the phrase “We laughed” has been repeated in the initial part of verses such as;
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, -knowing that better men would come,
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line; such as the sound of /w/ in “Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death”, /p/ and /s/ in “Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand” and the sound of /n/ in “Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!”
- Epigraph: The
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, -knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland”, “We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath” and “He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem used the metaphors of Death as a man and scythe as a killing tool.
- Personification: The poet used personified Death as if it is a person having feelings and emotions of its own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows the symbols of death and scythe.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Next War
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Poem Type: This is a Petrarchan Sonnet with Octave having eight lines and sestet having six lines as its first and second stanzas show. However, the difference is in the use of epigraphs of Sassoon.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABBA-ABBA rhyme scheme that is the hallmark of a Petrarchan sonnet.
- Repetition: The poem shows the use of repetition such as “We laughed.” It has stressed the major theme of the triviality of war.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “The Next War” are relevant for the soldiers to include in the ceremonies when they are going through recruitment and training.
We laughed, -knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.
