Insensibility

Insensibility
by Wilfred Owen

I
Happy are men who yet before they are killed
Can let their veins run cold.
Whom no compassion fleers
Or makes their feet
Sore on the alleys cobbled with their brothers.
The front line withers.
But they are troops who fade, not flowers,
For poets’ tearful fooling:
Men, gaps for filling:
Losses, who might have fought
Longer; but no one bothers.

II
And some cease feeling
Even themselves or for themselves.
Dullness best solves
The tease and doubt of shelling,
And Chance’s strange arithmetic
Comes simpler than the reckoning of their shilling.
They keep no check on armies’ decimation.

III
Happy are these who lose imagination:
They have enough to carry with ammunition.
Their spirit drags no pack.
Their old wounds, save with cold, cannot more ache.
Having seen all things red,
Their eyes are rid Of the hurt of the colour of blood for ever.
And terror’s first constriction over,
Their hearts remain small-drawn.
Their senses in some scorching cautery of battle
Now long since ironed,
Can laugh among the dying, unconcerned.

IV
Happy the soldier home, with not a notion
How somewhere, every dawn, some men attack,
And many sighs are drained.
Happy the lad whose mind was never trained:
His days are worth forgetting more than not.
He sings along the march
Which we march taciturn, because of dusk,
The long, forlorn, relentless trend
From larger day to huger night.

V
We wise, who with a thought besmirch
Blood over all our soul,
How should we see our task
But through his blunt and lashless eyes?
Alive, he is not vital overmuch;
Dying, not mortal overmuch;
Nor sad, nor proud,
Nor curious at all.
He cannot tell
Old men’s placidity from his.

VI
But cursed are dullards whom no cannon stuns,
That they should be as stones.
Wretched are they, and mean
With paucity that never was simplicity.
By choice they made themselves immune
To pity and whatever moans in man
Before the last sea and the hapless stars;
Whatever mourns when many leave these shores;
Whatever shares
The eternal reciprocity of tears.

Summary of insensitivity
Popularity of "insensitivity": Wilfred Owen, a respected British poet, wrote "insensitivity". It is a narrative poem about the untimely death of soldiers. It was first published in 1920. The poem speaks about the bravery and courage of the It also shows how they are treated as subjects in war and mercilessly killed.
"Insensitivity" as a representative of grief: This poem is an expression of grief. The narrator tells the same soldiers who take part in the war. The poem begins with a statement that men can never be happy and contented in war. If you want to perform well on the battlefield, you need to desensitize yourself. They should let their blood run cold because sooner or later they will die.
He presents a heartbreaking image of the soldiers walking on the corpses of their fellow soldiers to show that even the strong and beautiful souls are not free from the reach of death. However, their bodies are only statistics for the world. Nobody cares about their personal loss and feelings. While speaking about the aftermath of the war, the speaker claims that the war is wresting spirituality away. The soldiers eventually become insensitive. They are haunted by the looming shadow of death after returning from the war. What remains in the readers' minds, however, is the way in which he documents the miserable situation of the war soldiers.
Most important topics in "Insensitivity": Death, suffering and warfare are the notable themes of this poem The speaker tries to find the real emotions and suffering of the people who take part in battles. Although they are aware of their possible death, they happily hide their fear and emotions. Their main focus is on fighting the war as if the war is a part of them. They don't even care about their life. The speaker also speaks about the world's attitude towards surviving soldiers. Unfortunately, nobody understands the harm that war does or sees to their wounded soul. Soldiers spend their lives perplexed after seeing death and pain. It becomes difficult for them to reach the normal pace of their lives.
Analysis of literary devices used in "Insensitivity"
Literary devices are tools that represent a writer's ideas, feelings, and emotions. They also make the text attractive to readers. Wilfred Owen also used some literary tools in this poem to make it appealing. Analysis of some of the literary aids used in this poem has been given below.

Symbolism: Symbolism is a use of symbols to denote ideas and properties by giving them different symbolic meanings from their literal meanings. Here, 'All things red' symbolizes the blood and destruction of war. 'The last sea' symbolizes the approaching death.
Consonance: The consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same lines. sea ​​and the hapless stars "and the sound of / r / in" Their days are worth forgetting more than not "and the sound of / f /" For the weeping deception of poets ".
with his five senses. For example, "Pain in the cobbled alleys with his brothers", "But they are withering troops, not flowers" and "Happy the soldier at home, without an idea".
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds on the same line in rapid succession, such as the sound of / f / in "But they are fading troops, not flowers", and the sound of / s / in "Your senses in some scorching cautery of battle "or" We are wise, that with a thought they stain ".
Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of / e / in" How should we view our task? ”
Enjambment: Defined as a thought in verse that does not end in a line break, but instead continues into the next verse. For example
"Your senses in a searing cautery of struggle,
Well ironed long ago,
Can laugh among the dying without worrying."

Rhetorical question: A rhetorical question is a sentence that is asked to make the point clear. For example: “But through his dull and pathless eyes? “
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in“ Insensitivity ”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but some are only used in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Strophe: A stanza is a poetic form of a few lines. There are six stanzas in this poem, each of which is of different length.
Free verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain any patterns of rhyme or meters. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter
Use quotes
The following lines are suitable as a quote in a speech while discussing the difficulties people suffer during and after wars. You can also quote these lines to encourage people to spread peace instead of war.

“Happy that the soldier comes home without having an idea
Like somewhere, the evening before

In the Desert Invictus