“exposure” - in the title
the audience being exposed to the harsh realities of war
the ABBAC rhyme and the 5 line stanzas
suggests the monotony of war
never ending nature of war
mirrors the on going boredom and misery of the soldiers
“we” and “us” and “our”
hints towards the collective suffering of the soldiers in WW1
“but nothing happens”
repetition throught the poem gives the reader the same feeling of boredom the soldier has as they slowly await their deaths
hints towards the pointlessness of war - waste of time
“our brains ache as the merciless iced east winds knive us”
personification and sibilance
the weather is personified to make it sound menacing and deadly, characterising the weather as the real enemy of the soldiers
“dawn massing in the east her melancholy army/attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey”
personification
dawn is usually associated with light and hope, however her it represents hostility and brings even more suffering
colour imagery
“grey” conveys despair and boredom
military voacbulary
“ranks” is repeated to remind the audience of the repeating enemy of the soldiers - the weather
“less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”
nature is represented as more deadly than bullets
personification
“black” and “snow” contrast is unsettling as they juxtapose each other and expose the horror of being left alone in the elements
“slowly our ghosts drag us home”
metaphor
suggesting the war has removed the life from the soldiers, the soldiers are on the brink of death
“all their eyes are ice”
metaphor
describes the extreme effects of the weather that have overcome the soldiers
implies the soldiers have lost their humanity and they are close to breaking point
owen does this to highlight the loss of identity war gives people as it take the life out of their life
how does remains link to exposure
“on another occasion” - the soldier has lost feeling because of the effect of the war
“his bloody life in my bloody hand” - shows the mental struggle of the soldiers not just physical as this has led to the loss of life because of the lasting effects war has - links to macbeth
“tosses his guts back into his body” - shows the carelessness of the soldiers as they have realised there is no way out of the impact of modern warfare