Disabled (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature): Revision Note
Exam code: C720
'Disabled'
Here, you’ll find a guide to Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Disabled’ to help prepare you for the Eduqas GCSE English Literature exam. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of Owen’s techniques and methods
Historical and literary context: an exploration of connections between contextual aspects and the themes and ideas within Owen’s poem
Linking the poems: an understanding of how ‘Disabled’ connects to other poems in the Eduqas GCSE English Literature Poetry Anthology
'Disabled': overview
In order to answer questions on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
An overview of the poem
A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Wilfred Owen’s intention and message
‘Disabled’ overview
‘Disabled’ by British poet Wilfred Owen explores the trauma and alienation experienced by a soldier who has suffered life-transforming injuries in World War I. It contrasts the young soldier’s pre-war and post-war life and his subsequent loss of identity and purpose. Owen himself spent time in several military hospitals and wrote ‘Disabled’ while at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh after sustaining injuries on the battlefield, and the poem reveals Owen’s compassionate identification with soldiers in combat and in hospital.
‘Disabled’ translation
Lines 1-6
“He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.”
Translation
The omniscient narrator describes the young man (a war veteran) sitting in his wheelchair on a cold evening:
His suit is “legless” and “sewn short at the elbow” which implies he is an amputee (he has no legs and is missing an arm)
In the park, boys are playing, but the soldier feels sad hearing their joy
The stanza ends on an ambiguous line: Owen may be suggesting the young veteran sleeps (alone) as the boys return home to the comfort of their mothers:
The isolated veteran is left with only the cold, solitary comfort of sleep to act as a surrogate mother to numb his pain
Owen’s intention
Alliterative imagery creates a gloomy description in “ghastly suit of grey”
Alliteration of “wheeled” and “waited” draws attention to a lack of independence: he must wait to be wheeled back to his hospital room
The setting is depressing (the man shivers as he waits for “dark”)
Repetition of “Voices” contribute to the sensory descriptions, highlighting the man’s isolation from the youthful boys and raising ideas about lost innocence
Furthermore, Owen juxtaposes voices of children at play with a sad “hymn” to contrast the children’s vibrant lives with the soldier’s tragic mourning for his lost youth
Lines 7-10
“About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,
— In the old times, before he threw away his knees.”
Translation
In the second stanza, the narrator shifts to a description of the past
The memory is told in free indirect narration (the narrator adopts the character’s thoughts and voice)
The veteran remembers a vibrant “Town” and flirtatious girls in the “old times” before his injury (when he “threw away” his knees)
Owen’s intention
Owen uses bright and romantic imagery to describe the young man's past, contrasting with the “ghastly suit of grey” he wears in the present
A dash breaks the rhythm, emphasising the young man’s nostalgia and regret:
These deliberate breaks might reflect the soldier’s disjointed state of mind
The casual phrase “threw away” implies recklessness, suggesting the young soldier had not considered the real consequences of war
Lines 11-13
“Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,
All of them touch him like some queer disease.”
Translation
The shift to the present tense “Now” contrasts the young veteran’s life before his injury with his present circumstances
As a result of his physical disability, girls now avoid him, and he will never get to dance with them again:
It is as if he has a strange “disease”
Owen’s intention
Owen describes the young man’s loneliness since his injuries:
A lexical field relating to love and intimacy highlights his loss (“touch”, “warm”, and “hands”)
The simile “like some queer disease” portrays the young veteran’s isolation as society avoids him
“Queer” here means strange or unnatural, highlighting how society views his mangled body as something to be repulsed by rather than pitied or comforted
Owen alludes to romance to contradict established ideals about heroism:
This challenges contemporary propaganda that suggested soldiers were admired and desired by women
The adverbial phrase “never feel again” emphasises his lost future and the everlasting impact of his brief time at war
Lines 14-20
“There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now he is old; his back will never brace;
He’s lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.”
Translation
The narrator describes the man aging quickly:
Although it was only a year ago that he was young, “Now” he is “old”
It was like he lost half his life in the “hot race” (a competitive battle)
Memories of war return, suggesting the veteran’s thoughts shift quickly to traumatic flashbacks, specifically the moment of his injury:
He lost a lot of blood (“colour”) in a distant land
His blood ran into “shell-holes” as it sprayed profusely from his leg
Owen’s intention
Owen vividly describes the soldier's injury to show the reality of war and the post-traumatic stress that follows
Reference to lost youth is highlighted by caesura which break the rhythm to reflect the soldier’s broken and disjointed thoughts and memories (such as before “last year” and after “Now he is old”)
Owen uses symbolism to criticise propaganda promoting bravery and sacrifice:
The colour “purple” could connote to wartime medals such as the Military Cross (sometimes known as the Purple Cross)
Owen is suggesting the true price of these glorified medals is the horrific destruction of young bodies
Lines 21-25
“One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,
After the matches carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he’d drunk a peg,
He thought he’d better join. He wonders why . . .
Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts.”
Translation
The young veteran remembers how he used to like the idea of a wounded leg:
After matches and when he had been drinking, he was revered and celebrated for his actions on the football field
The memories shift suddenly to when he joined the army:
He cannot remember his reasons for enlisting, except it was after a football match when he’d had a drink
He thinks someone said he'd look good in the military kilt
Owen’s intention
Owen’s poignant contrast of being a hero after a football match with the reality of being a veteran shows the young man’s naïvety:
This presents war propaganda and ideals of masculinity as illusions
Owen presents the young man's reasons for enlisting in a flippant way, implying both his regret and the deceptive nature of recruitment campaigns
Lines 26-35
“That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.
Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.”
Translation
The man continues remembering why he became a soldier in the first place:
He wanted to please his girlfriend (“Meg”): he hoped she'd think he was brave and heroic
He felt no patriotic desire to protect Britain from the enemy: he simply believed what he was told about the benefits of being in the army
He thought about the glamour of the kit, the friends he'd make, the holidays, and the pay
Even though he was not yet nineteen years old (the minimum age for being drafted), those in charge were happy for him to go to war:
When he left for war, they sent him off with much celebration
Owen’s intention
Owen's criticism of war and war propaganda is clear here: he suggests young boys were tempted by lies:
This criticism is levelled at a society that fails to deal with the consequences of the lie it sells
Owen highlights the corrupt establishment which allowed boys younger than nineteen to enlist, even though it was not legal
The poem raises the theme of lost innocence: the soldier regrets his choices
Lines 36-38
“Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.”
Translation
When the soldier came home from war as a result of his injury he was not celebrated as much as he used to be after a football match
Only one man brought him “fruits” and enquired about his mental health
Owen’s intention
Owen juxtaposes the expectations of a hero's welcome with the reality:
By comparing the recognition a veteran receives with the cheering at a football match, Owen shows the young man’s youthful delusions
By referring to a visit from a “solemn” man (perhaps a fellow veteran who understands the trauma of war), Owen alludes to the isolation of veterans
Lines 39-41
“Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.”
Translation
The last stanza returns to the present
The young man's future consists of hospitals, rules, and restrictions
He will have to accept people’s pity rather than their admiration
Owen’s intention
Owen's desperate and regretful soldier faces a future dependant on others
Owen’s sorrowful veteran accepts a reality far removed from his expectations
Lines 42-45
“To-night he noticed how the women’s eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come
And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?”
Translation
The last lines bring readers back to the immediate present
The veteran “noticed” the way women looked away from him, and that they preferred “strong men” who were not disabled
The young veteran calls for someone to come and wheel him back inside as it grows cold and late
Owen’s intention
Owen's regretful young veteran faces a future alone and dependant on others
Exclamations and questions reflect his frustration
The final lines, in present tense, portray the young man’s continued desperation and extreme distress:
Owen employs repetition in the form of anaphora
As the soldier waits for an answer that might never arrive, the reader is reminded of his lack of hope
'Disabled': writer’s methods
This section is divided into three sections: form, structure and language. When you write about a poem, aim to expand your interpretation of what the poet is writing about by exploring how they present their ideas and why they have made the technical choices they have.
Focusing on the poet’s ideas and how they express them will gain you far more marks than examining individual poetic techniques. Look at the analysis in the sections below, which is organised by the main themes of ‘Disabled’ and demonstrates the methods and reasons for Wilfred Owen’s choices of:
Form
Structure
Language
Form
Owen’s ‘Disabled’ offers an intimate insight into the thoughts and feelings of a young World War I veteran. The free indirect narration allows readers to hear the young man’s sense of nostalgia, regret, and extreme desperation. The stanzas in the poem vary in length and the poem does not adhere to a traditional form, emphasising the lack of control the soldier now has over his life.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Memory and longing | The poem begins as a third person narrator describes the young veteran as he sits in his wheelchair in a “ghastly suit of grey” listening to children play but, as the veteran remembers his past, the voice becomes the young man’s own | The poem’s omniscient narrator takes on the voice and inner thoughts of a young veteran as his sleepy, semi-conscious mind drifts between memories of life before the war and the reality of his present and future circumstances |
Caesura break the poem’s flowing rhythm, mimicking an unstable voice (for example, “Now he is old; his back will never brace”), while the use of exclamations and questions in the last few lines of the poem reflect extreme desperation | Owen’s alternating rhyme scheme (ABACBC) and shifting rhythm creates both a sense of the young man’s drifting thoughts and the deep sadness of his voice, all presenting the regrets of a young veteran | |
Enjambment recreates the flowing of the veteran’s thoughts (such as in “About this time Town used to swing so gay/When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees/ And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim”) |
Structure
Owen’s poem has a cyclical structure that begins and ends with the young veteran in his wheelchair, emphasising the continuous nature of his isolation and alienation from society.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Memory and longing | The cyclical poem begins with a portrayal of the young veteran in a wheelchair as evening advances, and ends with him still there as it becomes late and dark | By portraying the veteran’s reliance on others, Owen offers an insight into the incongruity of a young man’s isolation and dependence |
The structure is irregular which tracks the young veteran’s rambling thoughts as they shift from present to past, centre on a flashback of joining the war and his injury, and return to the inescapable present | Owen reflects the young man’s unstable mental state (his PTSD), his regret and nostalgia, and the lack of control he has over his life |
Language
Owen uses vivid language to highlight a young veteran’s loss of innocence and vitality. By portraying the transformation the veteran has undergone, Owen shows how the young man appears much older than his years to provoke sympathy from the reader. The poem vividly illustrates the young man’s tragic injuries and his bleak future in order to show the reality of war.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Memory and longing | Owen’s colourful imagery juxtaposes the innocence and vibrancy of the young man’s past (“glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees”) with the horror of war (“leap of purple spurted from his thigh”) | Owen’s vivid descriptions bring life to the young veteran’s memories, showing the severity of his regret and trauma |
Anaphora in the lines “Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn/Voices of play and pleasure after day” work alongside a simile that contrasts the playful boys with the young veteran’s grief | Owen contrasts the youthful joy experienced by “boys” in the “park” with the young veteran’s loss of freedom | |
Destruction of innocence | The narrator does not name the man: the third person description makes him anonymous | Owen pays tribute to war veterans who receive little recognition and are ignored and isolated |
Alliteration and sensory imagery reflect the young veteran’s suffering: “He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark/And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey” | ||
Owen uses the metaphor of the dark at the start of the poem and, at the end, implores the nurses to “put him into bed” | The dark can be seen to metaphorically symbolise death, which the soldier may be waiting for |
'Disabled': historical and literary context
Context offers you a different perspective on a poem and can enrich your engagement with it. However, examiners don’t want contextual information added on at the end of your essay, or even in your introduction. Instead, your knowledge of Wilfred Owen’s life and World War I should be used to explore themes and support an analysis of the poem.
The ideas explored in 'Disabled’ centre around the dehumanising and isolating effects of war, the loss of innocence, and the delusions created by military and governmental recruitment campaigns. Therefore, this section has been bullet-pointed under the following themes:
Destruction of innocence
Memory and longing
Destruction of innocence
Wilfred Owen’s poetry is famous for its stark portrayals of the reality of war:
Having served in World War I, his experiences influenced his poetry
In 1914, a sense of excitement and a robust propaganda campaign led to a form of peer pressure that urged young men to enlist:
Propaganda urged young men to enlist with promises of glory and fame, a good salary, and a sense of belonging or camaraderie
The poem ‘Disabled’ refers to this as “smart salutes”, “Esprit de corps”, and “jewelled hilts”
The poem ‘Disabled’ portrays a young man who feels and appears old, thus presenting a loss of innocence and youth:
The line “Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years” attacks the establishment for allowing underage enlistment
Posters and literature encouraging men to join the war effort often included young, attractive women:
As the poem ‘Disabled’ details, young men were pressured into joining the war for fear of being called a coward and in a bid to attract women
Owen critiques his society’s neglect of war veterans who face a life of trauma:
In ‘Disabled’, Owen offers an insight into the way the injured and maimed are forgotten and isolated by the society for whom they fought
Memory and longing
Wilfred Owen’s poetry is known for challenging romanticised notions of war prevalent at the time:
Wifred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are known for anti-war poetry which contrasted with traditionally patriotic poems that glorified war
The poem ‘Disabled’ was written while Wilfred Owen was recovering from shell shock (often referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder):
At the time, care for those with permanent injuries or PTSD was poor, based on little understanding or knowledge about the condition
His experiences at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh may have inspired ‘Disabled’
The poem refers to “kilts”, “plaid socks”, and “sick” “institutes”
‘Disabled’ details a young man trying to remember why he joined up in the first place and expressing regret for doing so
The poem exposes the impact of war on veterans, describing a loss of self, both physically and emotionally:
The poem starkly contrasts the soldier's memory of his athletic past with his current, dependent existence
Examiner Tips and Tricks
When it comes to comparing poems, examiners say that better responses tend to integrate points of comparison throughout, rather than discussing one poem followed by the other. It is better, too, to interweave contextual details that link to shared themes in both poems. While knowing some key quotations from the anthology poems will certainly help you make connections, remember to focus on comparing ideas and themes. Support these ideas with evidence (form, language, and structural choices), rather than just listing as many quotes as you can remember.
'Disabled': linking the poems
The Eduqas GCSE English Literature exam asks you to compare two poems from the anthology. You will be given the text of one poem in the question paper, but you will need to compare this with another poem of your choice, one that comments on the particular theme in the question. It stands to reason, then, that it will be a good idea to understand your anthology poems according to their themes.
Here, you will find a guided list of poems that work well together, and how they are linked by a common theme. Do remember, though, the list below is not exhaustive and themes and ideas often overlap.
The poems you could link with Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Disabled’ are:
‘The Schoolboy’ by William Blake
‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney
‘Drummer Hodge’ by Thomas Hardy
‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti
‘Remains’ by Simon Armitage
‘Decomposition’ by Zulfikar Ghose
‘I Shall Return’ by Claude McKay
‘Kamikaze’ by Beatrice Garland
Theme: Destruction of innocence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
‘The Schoolboy’ | ‘Blackberry Picking’ | ‘Drummer Hodge’ | ‘Cousin Kate’ | ‘Remains’ |
Repressed childhood, rigid systems, loss of joy and freedom | The destruction of childhood memories as a result of experience, pain and sorrow resulting from disillusionment | The loss of life and innocence as a result of war, confusion, exploitation of the vulnerable | Exploitation of the vulnerable, rigid societal systems and roles, destruction of youth | Youthful innocence and potential cut short as a result of war, lost hope, confusion |
Theme: Memory and longing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
‘Blackberry Picking’ | ‘Decomposition’ | ‘I Shall Return’ | ‘Kamikaze’ | ‘Remains’ |
The significance of childhood memories, introspection that brings deeper understanding of life | Memories and imagination that offer fresh perspectives and reframe ideas about human suffering, reflection on a past event | The impact of imagination, reflections and memories of the past | The power of memory to alter mood, the impact of imagination and reflection | Painful memories, trauma, regret from introspection |
Sources:
Poetry Anthology (C720) (opens in a new tab)
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