Wilfred Owen was a poet who wrote about the horrors of war from his experience serving in the British Army during World War One. He loved writing from an early age and became an English teacher in France.
When he saw the effects war had on people, he enlisted in the army. After being hit by an explosion in 1917, which also resulted in the death of a close friend, he suffered shell shock and was sent to recover in Scotland. During this time, he wrote poems about the horrors of war, which were considered unpatriotic at the time.
Later people understood that his poems spoke of the sadness of war and lives lost. He returned to fight in France but was killed a week before the war ended.
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen loved the English language and started writing his own poems when he was 17. When war broke out, Wilfred was working as a teacher in France.
He saw many injured soldiers at a nearby hospital and wrote poems about what he saw. Wilfred felt sorry for them and didn't like how the war was hurting them, so he chose to return to England and join the army.
He was sent to fight in France in 1917, but was hit by a shell explosion. The same explosion killed his best friend and Wilfred was left devastated. He started suffering from shell shock. This was when soldiers started to act strangely because of the noise, fear and danger of war.
He was sent to hospital in Edinburgh to recover. While he was in there, Wilfred met another poet called Siegfried Sassoon. They both thought it was important to tell people what war was really like and help them understand how badly soldiers were being hurt.
In 1918, he returned to fight in France and was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery. However, just days before the end of the war, Wilfred was killed in battle.
During the war, many people did not like Wilfred's poetry. Later, though, his poetry became more popular. People came to understand that his poems spoke of the sadness of war and lives lost. People admired how much he cared for other soldiers and wrote about their suffering.
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