A Close reading of "Strange Me

A detailed Summary of A Close reading of "Strange Me

Fran Bove 12LLG 31st Jan 2001

A Close reading of "Strange Meeting" to show its relation to other poems by Wilfred Owen

"Strange Meeting" is a poem that is full of literary allusions. The most obvious of which is Wilfred Owen's own preface to the collection of poems, used in line 25.

This is one of the very few times, that he ever uses his own words or phrases in another poem.

In line 39 Wilfred Owen writes about

"Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were"

This could be seen as men working so hard that they are sweating blood, which triggers the thought that sweat is almost as important as blood due to the risk of dehydration in the trenches. It could also be interpreted as a relation to the bible, when Jesus wore his crown of thorns, which made him bleed on his forehead. This is an ironic thought because the men that have died in the war have died as martyrs to their countries whereas Jesus died as a martyr for his faith.

Nevertheless, the War was a platform for him to use them even more in his poetry. The whole poem is a reflection on what life was like before the war, but it is not Owen's reflection, it is the second character.

The second character is introduced in line six when an apparently dead person springs up and starts to talk to Owen.

Para-rhymes are found in most of Owen's poems for example, in " Arms and the Boy",

How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood;"

References to the Bible can be found in most of Wilfred Owen's war poetry, due to the fact that he was struggling philosophically with the dilemma that if God did exist why did he allow war to exist too?

The life he talks about before the war was a complete contrast. He talks about how he used to be free and live a life that was sensual, not barbaric and grim like the war.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nevertheless War, Wilfred Owen's, Wilfred Owen, Valhalla According, Moan Mourn, Decorum Est, Arms Boy, Strange Meeting, Fran Bove, Para-rhymes Para-rhymes, starts talk, wilfred owen, norse mythology, wilfred owen's, ironic died, strange meeting,

Approximate Word count = 662
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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