'Exposure' by Wilfred Owen in 5 Minutes: Quick Revision

Today I look at 'Exposure' by Wilfred Owen.

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[lukegzero]

For the comparison, storm on the island since the storm is described with militaristic vocab e.g. "We are bombarded by the empty air" or "Space is a salvo".

[franith]

There's only one exposure here - Mr Bruff exposing these poet's true intentions

[hassanmikky]

I would say the prelude, both of them show that nature is really powerful

[oscarhexter]

You could compare exposure to the extract from the prelude. Frequent references to nature and it’s importance to the poems story gives many points of comparison. The danger that is feared in prelude and accepted in exposure or the emotional trauma that both poets face and present in their pieces.

[chezb]

if this comes up im comparing to the prelude!! good luck tomorrow everybody WE'RE GONNA COOOK

[grim]

Pov: watching on 2x speed before the test

[noahkelly]

This is amazing! I really should watch your clips more often.

[ahmyjoy]

do you think Ozymandias can go well with it due to power of nature over power of man?

[Real.Mr.Salles]

Hello sir, could you please mark this:

Man is often portrayed as being in conflict with nature. Explore the ways in which nature is portrayed as the enemy of man in 'Exposure' and one other poem from 'Power and Conflict'. [30 marks]

The poem 'Exposure' was a protest poem written by Wilfred Owen about his experiences in the trenches of WW1. Despite the traditional wartime dangers of guns and bombs, the biggest enemy of man is presented as nature, which is viewed as more powerful and threatening. 'The Prelude' is an epic poem describing the moment the poet's view of nature changed when he encountered a large mountain as a young boy and realised the danger it posed to humanity. In 'Exposure', the threat created by nature was mainly physical, where as in 'The Prelude', it was mostly psychological.

In 'Exposure', nature is first introduced as a threat in the first line- the 'merciless iced east winds' 'knive' the soldiers. This is a violent action, and as winds cannot have 'mercy', they are personified to reflect their cruetly and status as a direct enemy opposed to man rather than a neutral natural occurrence. First person plural pronouns such as 'Us' and 'our' to show that the impacts of the destructive power of nature are universal, and this creates a sense of comradeship among the soldiers. We could also assume that the enemy must be affected by such harsh weather conditions. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if the fighting ended. The opening phrase of the poem 'Our brains ache' is particularly significant - this was inspired by the start of a poem by John Keats 'My heart aches'. Keats was a Romantic poet, and this original line reflected how happy he was made by the beauty of nature. Owen read a lot of Keats' poetry during his early life, and he had initially believed that poems should focus on beauty, until after entering the trenches of WW1, he realised that poems must cover harsh and painful subjects, such as war. In contrast to the Romantic movement, which celebrates the beauty of nature, nature is seen as the common enemy of all of humanity in Exposure.

In 'The Prelude', nature is initially presented as a friend of humanity. This is symbolised by the opening line 'One summer morning (led by her) I found'. This creates a very vivid (as he remembers one particular morning) and almost romantic image of nature. At this point in his life, Wordsworth clearly viewed man as equal to nature, rather than as being in conflict with it. However, it is implied that he had known the truth about man's inferiority all along, and had been subconsciously supressing it. 'Led by her' is placed in brackets, as though as an afterthought. He was being led and controlled by a personified version of nature, reflecting its dominance. Unlike in 'Exposure', he believes in the façade of his own power and is 'Proud of his skill' of being able to row the boat straight. The poem is split into roughly three sections - the first, at which he is in love with nature, the second, where he becomes terrified of nature, and the third, where he reflects philosophically on his encounter with nature. The entire poem is one long stanza, initially reflecting his enchantment with the natural world, but soon coming to suggest he is emotionally overwhelmed and unable to comprehend what he has witnessed. There is significant enjambment throughout the first section as he paints beautiful, pastel images of the 'glittering' 'moon' and the 'sparkling light' reflecting off of the water.

Rather than enemy soldiers, the narrator believes the real threat is that which is posed by nature - the only force capable of causing man's extinction. In the fourth stanza 'Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence' uses sibilance. The soft sounds may suggest that the narrator is not afraid of enemy gunfire, and may even be welcoming death as an escape from the perpetual suffering and purposelessness of war. Malicious nature seems to kill more people in war than the enemy - cold air comes 'feeling for our faces' with 'fingering stealth'. This is deliberate, and the fricative alliteration emphasises the brutality and the relentlessness of such extreme weather conditions. The wind is seen as allied with the enemy as it 'Attacks' in 'shivering ranks of grey'. Grey was the colour of the German soldiers' uniforms. Dawn, which is supossed to symbolise light, hope and a new day, is not portrayed in the positive way it is in most poems (which directly rejects Romantic beliefs about nature) - it 'mass[es] in the east [its] melancholy army'. A fight against nature being hopeless due to the latter's immense power is again shown in the last stanza. The soldiers attempt to stay warm with a fire, but the flames burn like 'dark-red jewels'. Precious, but cold.

In 'The Prelude', nature's effect on the narrator is mainly psychological. His thoughts are left tourmented for days after encountering such 'huge and mighty' forms of nature. The young boy is profoundly affected and left in a state of 'darkness', either 'solitude / Or blank desertion'. He now understands the unsafe position of humanity in the world, and realises how weak it is in contrast to the hugeness of nature. He does not fully describe what he now thinks of nature, rather what he cannot. There are 'no pleasant images of trees', and 'no colours of green fields'. The technique of polysyndeton is used as 'no' is repeated to describe what there is not. This creates a picture of a terrifyingly powerful nature, incomprehensible to humans due to the weaknesses of our minds. The strength of nature is 'unknown' to humans. This poem serves as a warning to not underestimate the power of the natural world. When the poet was young, he made the mistake of thinking he could challenge nature and dominate it. It is likely that William Wordsworth wanted people to remember their place in the world and understand their limited levels of power.

In conclusion, both poems present fairly similar images of nature, both presenting nature as the greatest enemy of man rather than other humans. 'The Prelude' describes the poet's initial, romanticised views of nature, before he realised its sheer immensity. 'Exposure' presents nature as the ultimate killer of man in war - 'Shrivelling many hands' and causing people to freeze to death before 'bullets' can reach them. Nature is potrayed as a 'merciless' and 'mad' enemy, dangerous because it is not a human and has no control over itself.

[maryamezzat]

This is so helpful thank you! Could u also do a revision vid for the rest of the power and conflict poems?

[threeroses]

I think Kamikaze would be in the case of Power of Nature, and war photographer in the case of comparison of soldiers and other people who's jobs relate to war,

[jackgarner]

Extract from the Prelude with the power of nature

[Ak-cewi]

This poem, Bayonet Charge and Poppies are my favourite.

[aaronjames]

This helps me with my homwork so thank you.

[tboogie]

You could compare storm on the island for nature, also has a cyclical structure

[Captain_Turbo]

wow thanks for the guidance and help i have exams soon and i really need to revise these poems like exposure, kamikaze, remains and my last duchess. so thanks for everything

[cassiegill]

Thank you for this video, 10XD really enjoyed it and found it really helpful!

[jimburke]

omg tysm mate youve just saved me i have a power and conflict mock exam tmrw and i was so underprepared now i feel ready

[zazouz]

Exam in 1hr 40 mins…. Last minute revision, I’ll let u know what I get

[mehvishrais]

Please can you do an analysis of the poem ‘The Farmer’s Bride”?
Thank You