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Strange Meeting 10 Marks

Strange Meeting is a poignant poem by Wilfred Owen that depicts the encounter between two dead soldiers, a British and a German, who reflect on the futility and tragedy of war. The German soldier expresses a deep sorrow for his untimely death and the lost potential for beauty in life, emphasizing the senselessness of their conflict. Ultimately, the poem conveys a message of shared humanity that transcends national identities, as the soldiers recognize each other as friends in death, highlighting the inherent pity of war.

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28 views1 page

Strange Meeting 10 Marks

Strange Meeting is a poignant poem by Wilfred Owen that depicts the encounter between two dead soldiers, a British and a German, who reflect on the futility and tragedy of war. The German soldier expresses a deep sorrow for his untimely death and the lost potential for beauty in life, emphasizing the senselessness of their conflict. Ultimately, the poem conveys a message of shared humanity that transcends national identities, as the soldiers recognize each other as friends in death, highlighting the inherent pity of war.

Uploaded by

The Ultimate Unboxer
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Q.1.

Write a critical appreciation of Strange Meeting

OR

Q.2. “The Poetry is in the pity “. Show how Owen has expressed the “pity of war” in his poem
Strange Meeting.

Strange Meeting is the grim account of Owen’s terrible experience in the First World War.
Published in 1920 in a volume entitled Poems, two years after Owen’s death in 1918, the
poem brings together two young, former, enemy-soldiers- a British and a German one who
meet, after they have died on the battle field. The German soldier however speaks at length
of his earnest desire to live more and unveils the tragic futility of war.

The poem opens with the soldier-poet’s illusion that he has escaped out of the
battlefield “down to some profound dull tunnel”, where in the midst of the corpse on of
warriors, one suddenly leaps up as he is “probed” by the soldier-poet. He continues staring
at the soldier- no poet with pitiful eyes and lifts up his hands as if to bless the soldier-poet.
By his grim smile on face, the soldier- of poet realises that he has after all reached hell
where silence reigns everywhere since the sound of battlefield is no more audible. The
soldier-poet observes the face of the dead soldier disfigured with fear and pains. He
consoles the dead soldier saying that there is nothing to mourn for in hell.

The dead-soldier begins his monologue bemoaning his early death. He says that had
he survived more, he might have enjoyed life, chasing things that are beautiful. Such things
are more sublime and subtler than the beautiful eyes and braided hairs of women and
makes fun of time as it steadily passes by. What grieves his heart is that his life is cut short
and hell offers no joy of aesthetic pursuit. One can only enjoy eternal sleep in hell. Hence,
the dead soldier laments that the truth of war now remains untold. The truth being massive
death toll that war claims. Men will now continue fighting, either satisfied or dissatisfied
with the results of the war. The dead soldier had both courage and wisdom to counsel the
warriors against the horrors of war. He could have given up his life to heal the world of its
evils but, would not have lost his precious life in foolish warfare.

Towards the end of the poem, the dead soldier reveals that he was the enemy who
was killed by the soldier poet on the other day. He recognizes his slayer by the frown in his
eyes. Yet, he addresses the British soldier his “friend” since after death what remains of an
individual is only the human identity. In other words, we lose all other identities that
separate us from others. Owen here must be suggesting the barrier of narrow political
boundary which the both German and the British soldier overcome after death. Hence, the
enemy solider who ‘jabbed and killed’ the German soldier, can be safely called a ‘friend’.

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