Poems: Spring Offensive

Poems: Spring Offensive

Spring Offensive is a collection of poems by Wilfred Owen, a British soldier and poet who served in World War I. The poems in this collection explore the horrors of war, the futility of war, and the effects of war on the soldiers who fight it. The title poem, “Spring Offensive”, is a powerful and vivid description of a battle in which the British forces are victorious, but at a terrible cost. Other poems in the collection include “The Show”, “The Chances”, “The Parable of the Old Man and the Young”, “The End”, “The Sentry”, “The Dead-Beat”, “The Next War”, and “The Last Laugh”. Through these poems, Owen conveys the tragedy of war and the futility of fighting it.

By Wilfred Owen · First published 1918 · Genre: Poetry, War Literature, Historical Fiction · 448 words

First lines

Halted against the shade of a last hill, They fed, and, lying easy, were at ease And, finding comfortable chests and knees Carelessly slept. But many there stood still To face the stark, blank sky beyond the ridge, Knowing their feet had come to the end of the world.

Marvelling they stood, and watched the long grass swirled By the May breeze, murmurous with wasp and midge, For though the summer oozed into their veins Like the injected drug for their bones' pains, Sharp on their souls hung the imminent line of grass, Fearfully flashed the sky's mysterious glass.

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Poems: Spring Offensive is listed on Textopian as a poem by Wilfred Owen, dated 1918 CE.

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1914-1918 · 20th century · English poetry · Poetry · War poetry · World War · begird · blessed · body · boots · breeze · burned

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