The Send Off by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen

The Send-off

Down the close, darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding-shed,
And lined the train with faces grimly gay.

Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray
As men's are, dead.

Dull porters watched them, and a casual tramp
Stood staring hard,
Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.
Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp
Winked to the guard.

So secretly, like wrongs hushed-up, they went.
They were not ours:
We never heard to which front these were sent.

Nor there if they yet mock what women meant
Who gave them flowers.

Shall they return to beatings of great bells
In wild trainloads?
A few, a few, too few for drums and yells,
May creep back, silent, to still village wells
Up half-known roads.

Background

●        Recurring theme of secrets and conspiracies.

●        Owen’s aim is to illustrate the contrast between reality and what propaganda posters say.

●        Owen wrote this poem in the Craighlockhart War Hospital. He was always against the war (despite being in it) and was always talking about how the government prolonged the war. Therefore he wrote many poems discouraging people from entering the war.

1.       Down =  Note the use of vocabulary. “Down” and “Closed” bring about a very depressing image. You are “down” when you are sad or depressed.
Close = There is a sense of oppression. Once you enlist into the army there is nowhere else to go; the government tells you where to go and tells you where to die.
There is also a sense of emotional closeness. That even though you are withstanding the oppression, you are not alone. A lot of friends tend to enlist together and join the same squad. On the other hand you also got the rest of your squad mates whom you will rely on very deeply to the point that you will give up your life for them.
Darkening = As you walk on, the future ahead gets darker and darker as the chance of death increases.
Sang their way = These army personnel have to sing in order to keep their morale up. This is also a reference to how the army personnel are told to act when going off to war. They have to pretend that all is alright with the world and walk off into war singing and dancing. This is another form of propaganda.
Note the juxtaposition of the two actions within the same lane. It’s to form a sense of irony; it’s going to be bad. But you have to pretend that you are going off to something good.

2.       Siding-shed = Note the alliteration here. The “s” sound sounds very secretive. Shhhh. This is from the government indicating that no matter what, they have to keep the experiences of war secretive; not that they would talk about it anyway. The experience would be too traumatic. The use
The siding-shed is also a place where cattle and animals are loaded up at the end of the railway. It could be at the end of the railway because the government does not want to let the people see how cramped up the army personnel may be on the train. It is in this case that Owen accentuates how the soldiers are being treated like animals rather than humans. Perhaps he is also trying to tell the readers that it is during war that the animalistic features of soldiers are shown.
Lastly, similar to how the siding-shed is found at the end of the line, perhaps the fact that soldiers are boarding the siding-shed indicates that they are the end of the line of their lives.

3.       And lined the train = It sounds coordinated. The government has already told them what to do for the whole event. It has all been planned by the government. The fact that Owen could write this based on memory and how it’s similar to how it always at the time accentuates the fact that this act has been done continually throughout the course of the war. Since it’s based on memory a long time ago, we can infer that Owen wrote this from the asylum.
Grimly – gay = Note the alliteration of the “g” sound. The sound of the “g” sounds very rough. Secondly there is also an assonance of the “y” sound. This is also a rough sound. It’s very well possible that you hear these sounds in war. The “g” sound in the mud and the “y” sound when you hear the artillery shells. Just a thought. 
Also there is the oxymoron. This is the indicate that even though they pretend to be happy, they are internally very grim.

4.       Wreath and spray =
This is a decorative item as they cheer on the soldiers into war. However what they are really doing is cheering them into their death.
White = Used to symbolize peace, like the dove. In the heads of the crowds, they are fighting for peace, which is an ironic idea in itself.
Stuck = Although these wreaths are “stuck” to their pockets, the word stuck is also a reference to wounds like when you have a bullet “stuck” in you. This word would more likely be used for things like knives.

5.       It is here that Owen tries to relate them to the decorative items that you find during a funeral. If you ever had one; many of the soldier’s died without anyone knowing their names. Note the pause before the final word and at the pause at the end “dead”. There is a sense of a dramatic pause and the use of a morbid word in a joyous occasion.

6.       Dull porters = These people are trained to carry the bags of others (probably so to have an excuse to support the war, but not fight in the war). They have seen the same ritual over and over again and have gotten dull of the lies. On the other hand they could have befriended and lost many of the soldiers that they have gotten close to at the beginning when they first started out, and have gotten numb from the death of them. Perhaps they too have lost so much that they are now devoid of emotion.

7.       Stood staring = alliteration of the “s” sound. Once again accentuating the level of secretive that the government has to pull off.
Additionally this gives a very sinister image, as if they know something that the soldiers do not. Perhaps they are away of how much the government is lying to them about the brutality of war.

8.       The soldiers were training at the upland camp before they were drafted for war. A lot of the tramps stayed there because they also received samples of food and drink from the soldiers.
Sorry = This is used to inspire a sense of emotion in the reader. That the only one who is truly sad for the soldiers leaving are the tramps, who have grown attached to some of the soldiers and know what their true fate will be. How do the readers feel?

9.       Unmoved = another reference to indifference and lack of emotion. It is here, after the train leaves from the siding shed, that the atmosphere becomes more and more sinister.
Signal nodded = Personification. The fact that the signal nodded and the lamp winked at the guard indicates they are all part of a conspiracy. This gives an idea that there was a plan that the soldiers have no idea about, lest they would say it instead of giving hidden signals. This conspiracy would be the secret of how bad the war really is and this slyness and deceit is hidden from the soldiers.  The last line of the stanza, “a lamp winked to the guard” also emphasizes this.

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11.   So secretly = Once again, the “s” sound. However the “s” sound is made using the word “secret”, indicating that perhaps the secret of their deceit will be released very soon; once the soldiers step onto the battlefield and experience the horrors of war.
Wrongs hushed-up = All the wrongs that the government has hidden has been mentioned indicating that the secret is soon to be released. However the soldiers are still unaware of it all. It is still “hushed-up” after all. The word “hush” sounds like an adult telling a child to keep quiet of a cheeky secret. The government treats the soldiers like children and treat the secrets of the horrors of war as something “cheeky”. Owen here indicates the level of morals that the government has towards the soldiers and the war; it is almost close to none.
They = This is a reference to how impersonal the guards feel towards the soldiers. They regard them as “they” rather than “us”; they are all part of the war support anyway… right?

12.   They = once again the sense of impersonal feeling
Not ours = There is a sense of detachment between the protagonist and the soldiers. Therefore perhaps the protagonist is a soldier who is not of the same regiment as them? Or perhaps the protagonist is a country dweller whose children and friends are not of that squadron. This gives us an idea of who the narrator is. Is he a bystander? Is he a soldier that is not put at the front lines of war?

13.   Note that there is a sense of impersonality between the narrator and the soldiers. Thus the variation between “we” and “them”. The fact that the protagonist has no idea where the soldiers were sent gives an idea of how little the public was aware of the actions of the soldiers. Many did not even ask, which a cruelty in itself. It is here that Owen tries to show how little the public cares for the soldiers, even when they were cheering for them seconds ago.

14.   Women have given flowers as a hope for peace within the battlefield, which is rather ironic. The fact that they go off just to fight is perhaps a mockery of these women who gave them flowers in hopes that harm will not come to them. They also give flowers to the soldiers in hopes that they will come back home safe and the fact that they take it knowing that they will die is also a mockery in itself.
Note the recurring theme of flowers. These are often used for funeral goodbyes as bodies are prepared for death.

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16.   Beatings = Note the brutality in the word “beating” rather than the word “ringing” which is more graceful. This word was purposely used to indicate that many of the soldiers come back scarred from war to the extent that they see almost everything as a form of violence or something that has a relation to their war experience.
Perhaps these great bells also has a reference to divinity as well. With all these deaths and murders and the betrayal of so many friendships, is it possible that they will return to heaven in the end at their time of death?

17.   Wild = this is a reference to bestiality. Perhaps at the end of the day these people will come back, but they will no longer be human. The war tends to bring out the animalistic features out of the soldiers and they will definitely not return home the same way as which they left.
Owen’s views are very clear - the returning soldiers are not being celebrated. There are no drums or bells to welcome them. The injured are hidden away from view as embarrassment. There is a conspiracy of silence about the true horror of war; those that return are not as numerous as those who left and will not line the carriages.

18.   Few = note the repetition on the word few. This is to emphasize on how little will return home from the war.
Yells = note the word “yells” instead of “cheers”.  This may once again be a reference to bestiality. On the other hand, when people see how many have returned, many may yell in sadness, rather than to cheer in happiness.

19.   Creep = This is another reference to Survivor’s guilt, as if walking with your tail between your legs for running away from the war and not dying with your friends on the battlefield. You are so ashamed that you rather not be seen, when you should be treated as a hero for going to war in the first place.
Silent = With everyone at the war, many of the town will be silent. The lack of noise also gives one the chance to think. With many of the soldiers, they will not remember sweet memories, but rather bad ones where their friends that used to live in the same city as them has died in war. Also when many return home, they are so traumatized by the war that they rather not speak of it. Also they have been asked by the government not to tell anyone about their experiences at war in an attempt to not discourage other people from enlisting.
Village wells = the whole idea of a well gives the village a very serene image, as if the soldiers have finally reached a place where they can rest. The fact that everything is still gives an indication that something is wrong and there is still an underlying sense of tension or pain.

20.    Half-known = These roads may have been destroyed by the influences of war. Many also cannot see the same roads the same way without their friends being there. To them, the whole idea that they are returning home may also seem surreal and the fact that they have returned home full of the experiences of war has made them see everything in a different light, and that they do not see the roads the same way as they had in the past, emphasizing how much the war has changed one mentally, often for the worst.