"he was drafted out with drums and cheers. . ."

As I mentioned today in class, one of the poems that impacted me the most was “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen. Owen’s approach to this poem is very straightforward and authentic. The poem encompassed the reality, sadness, loneliness, and despair that the other poems did (from the other war poets); however, this poem also looked at the misery of post-war life for a soldier. Most of us will never experience life on the front lines of war, but we all have known a veteran of war. How do we respond to them? How do we perceive them? Do we pause to think about the meaning of Memorial Day, or has it just become a “long weekend” at the end of May? These are all the things I thought about when I was reading “Disabled”. Although Owen was writing during the period of WWI, this poem will continue to echo the voices of veterans for generations.

Initially in “Disabled”, the young man has an adventurous and fun outlook on war, but he is quickly struck with reality, and war turns out to be a devastating experience. Thinking war would be an adventure, thinking he would look good in uniform, thinking it would impress women, and having no fear, "he was drafted out with drums and cheers”. After the false, proud, and foolish motives for going to war have led to the loss of his legs, he returns home and one person thanks him, “then enquired about his soul”. I can picture people drinking and singing, having a good time ushering young men off to war. . . and then streets being completely desolate when the soldier returns.

When the soldier says “he threw away his knees”, my heart just sinks. I want to cry with him over the loss of his sound mental and physical body, I feel deep sympathy as he recognizes the reality of his foolishness. . . if only he could go back and change his decision, to somehow avoid his monumental grief and loss. Furthermore, the soldier experiences a deep loss of love. He has lost love from women, and he has not received any love from his country. This is such a sad reality and he has no way of changing his circumstances now. Although the war poetry was not up-lifting in nature, I feel I have learned a lot. I didn’t know much about WWI, and I have certainly gained many new insights.