Asleep
Under his helmet, up against his pack,
After so many days of work and waking,
Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.
There, in the happy no-time of his sleeping,
Death took him by the heart. There heaved a quaking
Of the aborted life within him leaping,
Then chest and sleepy arms once more fell slack.
And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping
From the intruding lead, like ants on track.
Whether his deeper sleep lie shaded by the shaking
Of great wings, and the thoughts that hung the stars,
High-pillowed on calm pillows of God's making,
Above these clouds, these rains, these sleets of lead,
And these winds' scimitars,
-Or whether yet his thin and sodden head
Confuses more and more with the low mould,
His hair being one with the grey grass
Of finished fields, and wire-scrags rusty-old,
Who knows? Who hopes? Who troubles? Let it pass!
He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous, less cold,
Than we who wake, and waking say Alas!
Wilfred Owen wrote this poem in early November of 1917 when he left the hospital. It was originally called "Killed Asleep". A third person is speaking in this poem. And, it is directed towards someone who is watching a solider dying. It takes place when the solider is dead and then, a little bit after his death. The tone is very calm, when talking about death. It is about a soldier who was killed while he was asleep.
Imagery was important in order to portray out the situation. One example of abstract imagery is "Death took him by the heart." This is abstract imagery, because death is very vague and you can't really picture it in your head. This imagery means, that death took away all the love away from him. The love from his friends and family are all gone and he can't do anything about it. One example of concrete imagery is " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping", bleeding can be associated with death, especially when you're in a war. If they can't stop the blood, then you can die. This imagery means that, the fallen solider had been shot, started to bleed and death was just around the corner for him. By using imagery, Wilfred Owen is able to show a soldier killed while he is asleep.
The theme for this poem is a bit complex and hard to understand at first. In "Asleep", we learn about a soldier who has died fighting for his. And, the death is described to be very peaceful and the journey of the afterlife begins. What I think that Wilfred Owen is trying communicate is that: people die in a war. They are living, breathing, souls that are put into combat to settle a disruption for other people. Humans have always, since the beginning, until now, fear death because it is the great unknown. Is it fair for such selfless and good people to die like this? "Asleep" really does help us to think twice about the lives in a war. This is one of the ways Wilfred Owen has changed the way we think about war.
Various elements that were in "Asleep" make up the poem. "Sleep", is most used Connotation and abstract word, because it is referring to death. The man who died is now sleeping, since you aren't awake while you're sleeping, it can be used to describe the death of someone. There are some Denotation words like: " blood", and "intruding lead", since the soldier is shot, he is bleeding and the bullet is made out of lead. They take after the dictionary definition. Other abstract words are: "winds' scimitars, ", meaning the winds' swords. Before that, is said " these rains, these sleets of lead", so there were bullets were fired and the winds' swords would be like a weapon, just like the bullets. Concrete words are words describing physical objects. "...chest and sleepy arms once more fell slack", it is describing arms which are the physical object to be sleepy and slack. "Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.", is a metaphor that is means: he was so tried that he fell asleep. Another metaphor is "...Death took him by the heart.", meaning since he is dead, everything he loved in now out of his reach. A simile that was present was "From the intruding lead, like ants on track." , when the lead from the bullet started to enter his body, it was like how ants are on a track. Ants would go all over the place. "stray blood came creeping", would be an example of personification, because "stray" can be an adjective to describe humans, but in this it is describing "blood". The blood was "stray", it was not in the right place, it was unknown. When it says "He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous, less cold," sleep actually means that he is dead, sleep is representing the fact that he is dead. This would also be Metonymy. "He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous" this would be a connotation, it is associating sleep (meaning death), with tremulous (nervousness, because the solider was in a war, and people would be scared of that situation). Both figurative and rhetorical devices were used to compose this masterpiece.
Sentences are used to convey a single thought. In this poem, different types of sentences help paint all the complete thoughts and with all the sentences together. Longer sentences like: "Under his helmet, up against his pack, After so many days of work and waking, Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.", show a complete thought that is just bigger. It is a complex sentence. It talks about a man in the army who just finished his job for the day and he just fell asleep. Shorter sentences like " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping from the intruding lead, like ants on track.", have less ideas to express so that's why they are shorter and include more emphasis on words. In this line, blood had started to pour from the wounded man and it is described to bled like "ants on track", so it must have been bleeding pretty fast. Active sentences can help the reader easily identify the subject doing the predict (action), while passive sentences are the opposite, but in poetry can be more figurative. One active sentence is: " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping From the intruding lead, like ants on track.", here we can identify that he was bleeding. Different types of sentences are able to express ideas in different ways.
"Asleep" is a poem that really can change your perception on what war is about. We don't think of war in this kind of situation. Wilfred's imagery has helped portray the price soldiers may have to pay for peace. His words tell all. Sentences help complete the picture. "Asleep" is truly a poem that changes your views about war.
After so many days of work and waking,
Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.
There, in the happy no-time of his sleeping,
Death took him by the heart. There heaved a quaking
Of the aborted life within him leaping,
Then chest and sleepy arms once more fell slack.
And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping
From the intruding lead, like ants on track.
Whether his deeper sleep lie shaded by the shaking
Of great wings, and the thoughts that hung the stars,
High-pillowed on calm pillows of God's making,
Above these clouds, these rains, these sleets of lead,
And these winds' scimitars,
-Or whether yet his thin and sodden head
Confuses more and more with the low mould,
His hair being one with the grey grass
Of finished fields, and wire-scrags rusty-old,
Who knows? Who hopes? Who troubles? Let it pass!
He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous, less cold,
Than we who wake, and waking say Alas!
Wilfred Owen wrote this poem in early November of 1917 when he left the hospital. It was originally called "Killed Asleep". A third person is speaking in this poem. And, it is directed towards someone who is watching a solider dying. It takes place when the solider is dead and then, a little bit after his death. The tone is very calm, when talking about death. It is about a soldier who was killed while he was asleep.
Imagery was important in order to portray out the situation. One example of abstract imagery is "Death took him by the heart." This is abstract imagery, because death is very vague and you can't really picture it in your head. This imagery means, that death took away all the love away from him. The love from his friends and family are all gone and he can't do anything about it. One example of concrete imagery is " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping", bleeding can be associated with death, especially when you're in a war. If they can't stop the blood, then you can die. This imagery means that, the fallen solider had been shot, started to bleed and death was just around the corner for him. By using imagery, Wilfred Owen is able to show a soldier killed while he is asleep.
The theme for this poem is a bit complex and hard to understand at first. In "Asleep", we learn about a soldier who has died fighting for his. And, the death is described to be very peaceful and the journey of the afterlife begins. What I think that Wilfred Owen is trying communicate is that: people die in a war. They are living, breathing, souls that are put into combat to settle a disruption for other people. Humans have always, since the beginning, until now, fear death because it is the great unknown. Is it fair for such selfless and good people to die like this? "Asleep" really does help us to think twice about the lives in a war. This is one of the ways Wilfred Owen has changed the way we think about war.
Various elements that were in "Asleep" make up the poem. "Sleep", is most used Connotation and abstract word, because it is referring to death. The man who died is now sleeping, since you aren't awake while you're sleeping, it can be used to describe the death of someone. There are some Denotation words like: " blood", and "intruding lead", since the soldier is shot, he is bleeding and the bullet is made out of lead. They take after the dictionary definition. Other abstract words are: "winds' scimitars, ", meaning the winds' swords. Before that, is said " these rains, these sleets of lead", so there were bullets were fired and the winds' swords would be like a weapon, just like the bullets. Concrete words are words describing physical objects. "...chest and sleepy arms once more fell slack", it is describing arms which are the physical object to be sleepy and slack. "Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.", is a metaphor that is means: he was so tried that he fell asleep. Another metaphor is "...Death took him by the heart.", meaning since he is dead, everything he loved in now out of his reach. A simile that was present was "From the intruding lead, like ants on track." , when the lead from the bullet started to enter his body, it was like how ants are on a track. Ants would go all over the place. "stray blood came creeping", would be an example of personification, because "stray" can be an adjective to describe humans, but in this it is describing "blood". The blood was "stray", it was not in the right place, it was unknown. When it says "He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous, less cold," sleep actually means that he is dead, sleep is representing the fact that he is dead. This would also be Metonymy. "He sleeps. He sleeps less tremulous" this would be a connotation, it is associating sleep (meaning death), with tremulous (nervousness, because the solider was in a war, and people would be scared of that situation). Both figurative and rhetorical devices were used to compose this masterpiece.
Sentences are used to convey a single thought. In this poem, different types of sentences help paint all the complete thoughts and with all the sentences together. Longer sentences like: "Under his helmet, up against his pack, After so many days of work and waking, Sleep took him by the brow and laid him back.", show a complete thought that is just bigger. It is a complex sentence. It talks about a man in the army who just finished his job for the day and he just fell asleep. Shorter sentences like " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping from the intruding lead, like ants on track.", have less ideas to express so that's why they are shorter and include more emphasis on words. In this line, blood had started to pour from the wounded man and it is described to bled like "ants on track", so it must have been bleeding pretty fast. Active sentences can help the reader easily identify the subject doing the predict (action), while passive sentences are the opposite, but in poetry can be more figurative. One active sentence is: " And soon the slow, stray blood came creeping From the intruding lead, like ants on track.", here we can identify that he was bleeding. Different types of sentences are able to express ideas in different ways.
"Asleep" is a poem that really can change your perception on what war is about. We don't think of war in this kind of situation. Wilfred's imagery has helped portray the price soldiers may have to pay for peace. His words tell all. Sentences help complete the picture. "Asleep" is truly a poem that changes your views about war.