Disabled by Wilfred Owen

Disabled by Wilfred Owen

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. 

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. 
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. 

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. 

One time he liked a blood-smear 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, 
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; all their guilt, 
And Austria's, did not move him. And no fears 
Of Fear came yet. He drought of jewelled hills 
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. 

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal. 
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits 
Thanked him; and then enquired about his soul. 

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. 
Tonight 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?

Background:

●      Disabled was considered one of Owen’s most disturbing and affecting poems. It was written while he was recovering at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh while he was recovering from shell shock.

●      This work was done while Owen known Robert Graves, a fellow war poet. At the time, Owen was creating his own style of poetry and this one was very unconventional in terms of the structure and rhyme scheme. Graves tried to tell him that the poem was a “damn fine poem” but saying that his writing was a bit “careless”.

●      The poem talks about a person that has lost his limbs to the war. Note that despite what the war has taken from him and the sacrifices he has done, many remain ungrateful for his commitment and leave him alone to die.

Line by line analysis:

1)     He = Note that there is no particular name, and that the reference to “he” might be to any soldier who has fought in the war. It also gives the idea that he is one out of many.
Waiting for dark = Apart from the idea that a disabled person, being unable to move around all day, just spends his time waiting for the day to end is a depressing one. However, Owen tries to convey the idea that the ‘dark’ may not refer to the dark of night but also to the darkness of death. Perhaps their lives become so meaningless that it would be better for them just to sit around and wait for the day to end, bringing them closer to their death with every day that passes.

2)     Shivered = This chill gives a feeling of loneliness, the direct opposite of how spending time with your family brings about a sense of warmth. This also puts the patient in a very pitiful light and that, even while looking so pitiful, no one is there to help him.
The suit of grey is a reference to the scrubs that every patient wears in hospital. The word ghastly relates the image to be a ghost, as even though the patient has survived the war, he has nothing more left to live for.
Note the adjectives to show depression such as “dark” or “grey”. It strikes a strong comparison between the first and second stanza.

3)     Legless, sewn short at elbow = he has lost  his legs and his lower forearm.

4)     Voices= positive image. The use of voices represents the idea that these people are not alone and they have other boys to play with which only goes to contrast his loneliness.
Sound is often the sense that Owen often appeals to aside from vision, as it is one of  the senses that are bombarded during the war due to the sound of explosions and gunfire. For soldiers, hearing positive sounds such as the sound of laughter or the sound of children playing would be a very surreal one.
Saddening like a hymn = even though voices are a reference to positive images, the use of the word saddening contrasts this image. This brings about the idea that despite a happy picture being portrayed, the patient is depressed to the point that he fails to see anything as happy anymore. The word “hymn” is a reference to divinity, as mentioned by Owen in many of his works.

5)     Voices of play = positive connotation.
Pleasure after day = possibly sexual/youthful connotation

Note the repetition of the word “voices” and the use of alliteration in “play” and “pleasure”. The “p” sound is used to show a contrast between the battlefield and the homeland, where the “p” sound, despite being used for positive verbs, also is a reference to the “p” sound emitted from guns when fired.
4^th and 5^th lines may be a reference to how he used to be as a child. It also showcases what he was when he had limbs.

6)     Mothered = reference to youth and loved ones.
Sleep = reference to peace and serenity
The whole stanza may be a reference to what it is like in the afterlife while being miserable in reality. It is in this way that Owen tries to convey the idea that perhaps the patient here may be already half dead.

7)      

8)     Swing so gay = reference to a child on a swing → Playful

9)     Light blue trees = At night, the tree looks blue. This brings about a very serene image.
Glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees → possible reference to romantic moments that the protagonist could have spent with his girlfriends. (I can’t help but remember that scene in Avatar when Zuko was in the Earth Kingdom).

10)  Girls-glanced = alliteration. The use of a “glance” give the girls a very playful image. This gives the idea that perhaps this man was very good looking in his youth.
The air grew dim = Slow paced atmosphere

Reference to his times that he spent with girls in his youth.

11)  Note the dash. The dash is used as a transition between the time when he was a child and the present. The fact that he has to pause give the implication that he is unable to forget about his past. In fact, he would rather be immersed in it than be subject to the reality he has been out in now.
Old = although realistically it happened a year ago, he felt that time has passed him by and that he has lost years of his life due to the war. He has aged mentally.

Threw away his knees = As if the protagonist lost his knees intentionally; by joining the war he was already practically asking for death.

12)  Now he will never feel = No hands
Again = He has done things like this before

How again how slim = Sexual/playboy connotations.

13)  Girls’ waists are = sexual connotations

How warm their subtle hands = Romantic connotations. This may show that at the time, despite being a playboy, he was also very sensitive and thus a very romantic character in his youth.

14)  Instead of girls touching him sexually/romantically, they instead touch him like he has some queer disease. This is also a references to the fact that even nurses, who are thought to treat patients kindly even treat him in such a way. Of course, this also shows the contrast between how people treat him before he was a soldier and after he came back from the war.

15)  

16)  Artist silly for his face = A artist wanted to make fun of his face that he drew it so horribly. In reality, his face was disfigured from the same artillery shell that took away his limbs. Alternatively it could be a reference to the idea that the artist that drew his face was enchanted by his face while drawing it halfway to the point that the artist was determined to make it look good.

17)  Younger than his youth = His face was younger than his age before the war, indicating that he was very good looking.

Youth, last year = a term he used only before the war despite being only a year ago.

18)  Now he is old = Reference to how the war took away his youth.
His back will never brace = he may never be able to stand up ever again. Of course, this was due to the injuries of war. This may also be a sexual connotation as he will never be able to engage in intercourse ever again.
He has also become physically old = There are many jea;tj problem that older people have that he has and that younger people don’t have.

19)  Colour = reference to youth. We say that youthful people are very colourful.
He lost his youth far away from where he is now, on the battlefield.
The lines after this take the reader back before he was removed from the battlefield.       

20)  Shell-holes = Blast craters from artillery
Till the veins ran dry = This is a reference to how he lost his “youthful blush” as a child. On the other hand it can also be regarded literally: that the bomb has caused so much injury that he has lost so much blood, almost to the extent that his veins ran dry.
Blood = life. This means that he lost his past life in the war and all that came back is an empty shell. He lost his life in the bomb crater.

21)  Hot race = Represents soldiers running over the top into no-man’s land. Of course, stopping would mean death, so you feel the “heat” of a race

The heat could also be a reference to the heat of the explosions on either side of him or the perspiration as he runs through hell.

Half his lifetime lapsed = he lost half of his life mentally in the war. When he came out, he was no longer the colourful soul but a person so traumatized by the war that he came out mentally not able to do anything anymore. Of course, it’s all metaphorical

22)  This stanza is a literal one to encourage disgust in the reader. Purple blood = deoxygenated blood from your thigh. Registers a bigger amount of disgust than if it to be red. The word “spurted” has a similar effect. The use of the deoxygenated blood also indicates the idea that not only was he injured, but he was also very tired and his body was so exhausted to the point that it could not properly oxygenate the blood in his body. 
Thigh = reference to how he lost his leg and the fact that there was blood is a reference to its last breath, as if saying its final words.

23)     

24)  In another life, the same symbol means something else. It shows the power of contextualisation and how in this case, an injury is a sign of being heroic rather than a sign of possible death or in his case, the loss of a leg.

25)  After the matches = He has played multiple matches (not mentioned what kind of matches yet). And was used to the same tradition being done unto him multiple times.
Carried shoulder-high = the sign of the hero of the match, the most valuable player. This contrasts the idea of the war where injured soldiers were carried off the battlefield on the shoulders of others.

26)  It was after football = Owen is trying to fully engulf us back into the past by telling something very close to a story.
Drunk a peg = a peg is a type of alcoholic spirit. This meant that he was both drunk on alcohol and euphoria from after doing very well in a football game. What this meant was that whatever came after was made on impulse and without rational thinking.
Additionally, any person would tell you that it is not wise to drink alcohol after sports. The idea that the protagonist did this gives the idea that perhaps he was young and did not care very much for his health thinking that he was young and already healthy, thus showing that he was an irresponsible youth.

27)  At that time, with the war going on, a phrase like that was common among the youngsters and at that time saying something like that was probably something ‘cool’ to do. Everyone already knew what you meant. Owen by using this statement helps us to get an insight of how the war was viewed by from the point of view of the youngsters and how effective propaganda posters were.

He wonders why = he has agreed that he has made an irrational judgement but it was only until now did he realise what a mistake it was. It could be that he felt that way then as well but his pride would not allow it.

28)  Kilts = he was Irish. And the kilt is a national uniform. The fact that it was mentioned in this poem is a symbol of patriotism, and it was something that a lot of people admired at the time. It was why he did it; people said he looked good in it.
God = In this case God is not a reference to an omnipotent being which has the power to rule over everything, rather he would look like someone that people will think of as unstoppable and as a leader. Furthermore it would look very powerful and thus pleasing to women, especially in many roman and greek mythologies where gods would spend their nights with countless different women. It was because of this imagery that boosted his ego to give him the courage to sign up for the army.

29)  Meg = Meg perhaps was his girlfriend or the person he was pursuing. He was thinking that although he did not know where the voice came from, Meg had the same opinion and upon his return after winning the war he could have charmed her heart to the point that maybe they could get married or at the very least become a couple.

30)  Jilts = A woman who has rejected a man. This could be an indication that Meg has rejected him, and out of blind love and determination to charm Meg and every girl that has rejected him before, he has decided to do this. It’s not only that he can charm the girl he wants out of true love, but he also wishes to do this for his ego; to prove that every girl that has rejected him has made a mistake and that they were “giddy”

31)  All he had to do was show his willingness to join and immediately people arranged for him to join the army. The pain of war was kept secret, and many wanted youngsters to say yes to join the army. Many signed them up before they could refuse so as to stop them from changing their mind.

32)  They = symbol of peer pressure being used, or perhaps a bandwagon. “Hey let’s all do this together!”. This was common in many small communities, where all the men in a particular neighbourhood would join the army in the same time, thus being able to fight the war together in the same regiment.
Lie = many people used to lie about their age to join the army out of similar circumstances as the protagonist, either out of peer pressure or out of patriotism to their country. Propaganda posters were used as well. Of course, the army wanted people, so if people wrote their age as a lie, many would turn a blind eye to it.
It is in this stanza that Owen points the main out of many ways that one gets pressurised to join the army. It was not only this person but many other people as well.

33)   

34)  He did not think about the dangers of war, or why he was fighting. He had very immature thinking, saying “I will fight the war for my country!” but did not think that he will have to kill others, nor did he think that he was going to kill the murderers of his friends.

35)  Even though he knew about the war, he did not think very deeply about it and thus never really thought things true. This illustrates how unprepared many were for the war. As Owen stated, they did not fear fear yet.

36)  He did not fear to feel the concept of fear. All he thought of was jewelled hills, which is a reference to the hills of Ireland. Basically all he is thinking of is the pride he will feel when he returns back to Ireland as a hero. It may also be a reference of him being able to travel further than he has ever travelled to. He never truly thought of the war.

37)  In this lines he does not talk about his patriotism for his country, rather he is enticed by the propaganda that he sees in posters all around him for the war.

38)  Care of arms = to take up firearms to fight for your country. In many propaganda posters this was thought as the right thing to do and the heroic thing to do for your country
Pay arrears = Money owed to someone. In this case we are probably talking about the money paid for being a soldier in war. So not only will he come back a hero, he will come back a rich one and is thus able to marry someone and support a family when he comes back. 
Leave = His primary thought was about leaving the army as a hero rather than fighting in the war itself. 

39)  Espirit de corps = This is a French term for a group who would maintain their set of beliefs in the face of opposition and hardship. Once again, this would be one of the main propaganda mottos that encourage many youngsters to join the army. It hints for young recruits, as if personalised at him. “They wanted him be in the Espirit de corps!”         

40)  With drums and cheers = he was drafted like every propaganda poster promised he would be drafted; when cheers and drums. At this moment he is living the propaganda and is completely convinced that it would always be as the poster has promised him. This deployment scenario was addressed in Owen’s other poem, “The Send-off”

41)   

42)  Some was happy that he was home, but not as much as those who cheered him off. In fact, not as much as those who cheered him when he scored a goal in football. It gives a feeling of rejection because he was more appreciated fighting for his life than at home. It also gives the idea that people were not wholeheartedly happy that he came back before the war ended. In his eyes, this could be an indication that he felt a slight feeling of survivors’ guilt that he was not meant to come home.

43)  A serious man brought him fruits. This could be an agent from the government. Because of his disfigurement, perhaps he was not allowed home for other people to see what war is really like. Instead he was kept hidden, where the only person that visited him was a government agent to keep him sane. Not even his family was allowed to visit.

44)  It was only the government agent who thanked him personally, and was the only one who cared about his soul. At this point, we don’t even know if he cared. For all we know he was trained to do this.

45)   

46)  The following line is a statement. It basically is what will happen to him in the future. He is convinced of it, showing that his spirit is crushed. Secondly it may be what government officials have told him to do, and he is meant to follow it like law.

47)  Besides this, there are other rules that he has to follow. Ironically, he is fighting for peace in his country but by doing so is subject to the laws and suppression by the government especially in his condition. He is so constricted to the laws of the governments that he is even told to take whatever pity that the government gives him so as to not offend any of the government officials. Perhaps it is also a promise to the soldiers that the government will support them no matter what and the fact that he is asked to take forms of pity no matter what shows a sick and twisted version of that promise.

48)  Tonight = this is a reference to how his romantic nights were in the past. It also signifies the arrival of a dark time in his life as the poem comes to an end.
Woman’s eyes = the past Casanova that was him is still there; he looks at the features of women. This time it was just the eyes, perhaps showing that he has become so pitiful to the point that he would rather look at someone romantically rather than at someone sexually. Perhaps now he would rather emotional fulfillment rather than physical fulfillment.

49)  The eyes pass by him to the strong men that did not receive any permanent injury. The use of the men show contrast between him and the men who were not disabled.
Whole = In his eyes, the lack of limbs makes him not a whole person. He is weak and incomplete without them.
The women who used to lust over him lust over the other army men who did not take any damage. It shows just how much, or how badly the war has changed him.

50)  It’s cold and late it is, but nobody comes to comfort him. Nobody comes to care for him, when so many people would not too long ago.And put him to bed = In this case, it could be a reference to “put him to rest”. In this case it could be the idea that he rather die than to live the rest of his life in this state.

51)  Why don’t they come = Why don’t any nurses come for him instead? Is it because of his figure? On the other hand it could be a reference to his dead comrades, why doesn’t they come back and take him with them? It is another reference to survivors’ guilt. Perhaps it could be that he has caused the death of his comrades. Why don’t they come back to him for retribution? This may also be used to indicate that the time for this person’s death has come and that, at the end of the day, the only feelings that he have is those of coldness. The fact that nobody has come may indicate the fact that even on his deathbed, there is no one there to care for him.