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 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. 

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. 

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.
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.
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?

Summary

The man sits in his wheelchair with grief waiting for the dark night. He is chilled in his gray suit which is legless and sewn at the elbows. Boys' voices ring out in the park; the voices, sounds like “play and pleasure" that echo until sleep takes them away from him.

The town is lively with lamps in the trees and girls dancing in the dim air. These were the old days before "he threw away his knees". He will no longer have the chance to put his arms around girls' slim waists or feel their warm hands. They look at him as if he is suffering with a strange disease. Last year there was an artist who wanted to picture his youth, but now he is not only old but also, he is in wheelchair. His back will not "brace" and he gave up his color in a land very far from here. He let it drain into "shell-holes" until it was all gone. Half of his life is now gone from that "hot race", when a spurt of purple burst from his thigh.

One time before the war he saw a blood smear on his leg and thought it looked like the "matches carried shoulder-high". He had been drinking after football and he thought he might as well sign up for war. Besides, someone had told him he would look like a god in kilts. This is why he joined the war, and it was also for Meg.

He lied about his age to join the army. He was not yet thinking of Germans or "fears / of Fear". All he thought about were "jeweled hilts" and "daggers in plaid socks" and "smart salutes" and "leave" and "pay arrears". Soon he was selected, and the air was filled with "drums and cheer". Only one serious man who brought him fruit asked him about his soul.

Now, after war, he will spend his time in the wheelchair. This evening he saw the women's eyes pass over him to gaze on the strong men with whole bodies. He wonders why they do not come and put him to bed since it is so cold and late, he feels as if he is betrayed by women.

Analysis

"Disabled" is one of Owen's most disturbing and emotionally affecting poems. It was written while he was at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh after sustaining injuries on the battlefield, and was revised a year later. This work was the subject of Owen's initial relationship to poet Robert Graves.  Owen wrote to him mother about his first meeting with Robert Graves.  Owen showed his war piece “Disabled” to Robert and he was impressed.  Later Robert Graves made a criticism it was a "damn fine poem" but said that his writing was a bit "careless". Graves's comment may derive from the fact that there are many irregularities of stanza, meter, and rhyme in "Disabled".

In the first stanza the young soldier is seen in a dark, lonely state as he sits in his wheelchair. Almost immediately the readers could understand that the soldier has lost his legs in a battle. Voices of boys echoing throughout the park, sound as they echoed on the battlefield. The voices took him back into his memories, Words such as "waiting" and "sleep" portrays that this soldier's life is interminable to him now.

In the second stanza the soldier reminisces about his life before the war. The shining lamps and dancing girls before and now he will not get a chance to experience a relationship with a woman now; they look at him as if he has a "queer disease". The soldier feels ignored, almost betrayed by women.

 In the third stanza the recollects his happy days.  He used to be young and handsome and an artist wanted to draw his face. Last year he was a handsome youth, he says, but now he lost everything, - the soldier "lost his colour very far from here / Poured it down shell-holes until veins ran dry". WWI poet, C. Day Lewis, said this line brings out “deliberate, intense understatements – the brave man's only answer to a hell which no epic words could express" and is "more poignant and richer with poetic promise than anything else that has been done during this century."

In the fourth stanza the boy also reminiscences that he was a football hero, and that once a "blood-smear" on his leg sustained in a game was a badge of honor. He decided to go to war casually – after a game, when he was drunk, he thought he ought to enlist. Swayed by a compliment and a girl named Meg, his justification for going to war illustrates his youthful ignorance.

In the fifth stanza he says that he lied about his age to get into the military, and gave no thoughts to Germans or fear. All he thought about was the glory and the uniforms and the salutes and the "esprit de corps". This young man is symbol of any young man from any country involved in the war, who, is young and lacks worldly wisdom, did not think too deeply about what war really meant and what could happen to his life. Owen is obviously sympathetic to the soldier's lack of understanding, but he is also angry about "the military system that enabled the soldier to enlist through lying about his age". Owen is careful to balance "the immaturity of the soldier...with anger at the view of war as glamorous, a view held by both the soldier before the war and by much of the public throughout."

In the sixth stanza everyone cheering him when he played football. But fighting for his country killed the respect and cheer he once enjoyed and received. It was a sad contrast and It does not seem like the boy took the time to wonder too deeply about this at the time, but the encounter is a foreshadowing of the difficulties to come.

In the seventh stanza the soldier comes back to the present, realizing his doomed future. He knows that he will have to suffer through the pity of those in power that put him in danger in the first place. What pains him most is, the continued slights from women, who look past him like he is invisible to men that are "whole". The poem ends on a sad note as the young man wonders why "they" do not come and put him to bed. It is a reminder that he will have to have others do things for him from now on. His days glory, are over. The poem is about one soldier, but what makes it so clear about its universal quality.

Poetical Techniques in the poem

 Language in Disabled

The language Owen uses in” Disabled” swings between glorious past and painful present.  In both situation Owen maintains simple diction.

Timing shifting

The opening stanza, which opens with his present situation, serves as a metaphor for the rest of the poem which shifts from the past to present. Every stanza the comparison is underlying with the past glorious memories to the present painful thoughts and worries of lame future.

Owen juxtaposes the women’s rejection at the end of stanza two when the man’s t beauty is lost in stanzas three, four and five. This has the effect of making the final female rejection of him ‘tonight’ more and more disappointing as no one is there to give him a affectionate look.                        

In contrast to the ex-soldier’s current situation, Owen paints the past in detail.

In ‘Town’ before the war, it used to ‘swing so gay’ when ‘glow-lamps budded’ and ‘girls glanced lovelier.’ Here Owen’s use of alliteration adds glamour. The ‘light blue’ of the trees and sense of light and spring (‘budded’) gives a contrast picture to the greyness and absence of colour in the present

He looks like god is a comparison which makes us to understand his youth and handsome appearance and his fame among girls.

Tone

Owen displays the tone of sadness and despair in the first lines. The voices of the boys playing in the park ‘rang saddening’. Their ‘play and pleasure’ makes the disabled man into deeper gloom.

when Owen takes us back into past of the young man gives a light shine. The waste of war is well brought out in each stanza. The image of a  victorious footballer ‘carried shoulder high’ is juxtaposed in the reader’s mind by images of WWI stretcher-bearers carrying damaged bodies.  Although the soldier had helped ‘win’ the war, he was not cheered as in the football game where each of his victory is a celebration.

Structure in “Disabled”

Owen recollects the man’s past and present condition within seven stanzas of differing lengths. Sadness and despair are echoed through every verse:

Stanza one shows us the man in his wheel-chair. He is cold and motionless, waiting for the day to end.

Stanza two introduces the sexual desperation experienced by the wounded man. Recalling how girls ‘glanced lovelier’, he knows that he will never feel again the touch of slimness of ‘Girls’ waists’

Stanza three juxtaposes the past handsome youth who had attracted the attentions of a painter with his current lame appearance.

Stanza four expresses the innocence of a young man who is intoxicated by football, girls, glamour and alcohol than by the bitter truth of wars. He was not nineteen and tries to impress his girlfriend Meg, joined the army saying lies. Now bitterly experienced, and regrets his actions.

In stanza five Owen says that the disabled man had had no idea of the realities of warfare. He joined up for the heroism, uniform, comradeship and pay, cheered to the front by crowds and drums

The final stanza reminds us that the disabled soldier is now permanently kept away from the those who are ‘strong’ and ‘whole’ he is unable even to go to bed without a help.

Rhyme

Owen’s rhyme scheme in Disabled is quite regular with words rhyming within two or three lines of each other and within the stanza. ‘grey’ and ‘day’ in stanza one rhyme with ‘gay’ in the second verse; ‘dry’ and ‘thigh’ in stanza three link to ‘shoulder–high’ in the next verse. The bringing together of veins running dry and the purple spurting thigh of the injured man with the 'shoulder-high’ triumph of his glory days distills the pity. 

Metaphors and Similes

‘Like a Hymn’ - hymns are sung is important. This is the first sign of religion and there is the idea of being saved or a funeral procession. It is possible that there is a reference to the ‘Lord’s Hymn’, which is sung or prayed at important times in one’s life.

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,

The dark is a metaphor for death, Owen pities this man’s life as so useless and futile so death could be a relief among the monotony of life.

Repetition

The repetition in the poem is somewhat irregular in the first half of the poem.  It sounds as the soldier has lost his rhythm in life and there is no regular order to life anymore. However, as the poem progresses, the rhyme becomes more noticeable and regular. It is to say the reality of life and he must accept this way of life.

     "Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,"

The boys’ voices remind him of what he’s lost. The word hymn adds religious context.
    "Voices of play and pleasure after day,"

The repetition of the ‘pl’ sound in play and pleasure adds a sense of rhythm, showing the man sense of nostalgia and pain.

    "About this time Town used to swing so gay"

The capitalization of ‘Town’ refers to the men returning disfigured, was widespread in war-time Britain.

    "When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees"

‘Budded’ creates an image of flowers, referring new life. This is a metaphor for the youthfulness of the men before they went to war.

    "There was an artist silly for his face,"

Implies that the man used to be very attractive.  An artist wants to draw his handsome appearance he is so crazy to draw him as he is so popular among girls with his youthful appearance.

    "And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,"

War has taken his life. No more hopes.

    "One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,"

The sight of blood was a victory and a symbol of masculinity.

"Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal."

Contrasts with everyone cheering him when he played football.  Fighting for his country has killed the respect and fame he once received.

    "And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?"

The repetition of rhetorical questions exposes his desperation. The rhetorical questions could also be seen as a euphemism for the man crying out to die and to be free from his everlasting pain of life.

 

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