"FUTILITY" POEM EXPLANATION - WILFRED OWEN

In this article we shall read about 'Wilfred Owen' and his poem Futility things about "Futility" poem by Wilfred Owen.

"Futility" Poem

Move him into the sun-

Gently its touch awoke him once, 

At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, 

Until this morning and this snow. 

If anything might rouse him now 

The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds,- 

Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. 

Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, 

Full-nerved-still warm-too hard to stir?

Was it for this the clay grew tall?

- O what made fatuous sunbeams 

toil To break earth's sleep at all?

Glossary

Title. Futility  uselessness

Line 2. gently  softly

Line 2. its  the sun's

Line 9. clays  earthdust from which man is made.

Line 9. cold star the earth that was initially cold and uninhabitable made warm later by the sun.

Line 11. stir  persuade to move; sign of life

Line 13. fatuous  very silly without seeming to know it.

Explanatory Notes

'Futility' is a short and intensely moving poem about a young boy, earlier a farmer, now killed in action. The boy symbolises all the soldiers who are unnecessarily killed in war. The tone of the poem which is initially ironic rises to the heightening of the tragic and leaves the readers with a feeling of helplessness and futility.

The dead soldier can be revived only if the sun decides to rejuvenate him. Once, in the past, the sun woke the dead clay of this earth by its warm touch. The warmth then transformed the dead planet into one teeming with life. Before the war, this soldier who worked in the fields as a farmer was assisted by the sun waking him and doing his work in the fields. The sun helped him in creative work. Now as a soldier he has been a symbol of the negation of life and one is uncertain whether the sun could have any life-giving influence on the lethal machine-the soldier. The sun recognises and supports kindness and life, not cruelty and death.

The poet laments the loss of the full grown, able-bodied young soldier. He grieves over the uselessness of the sun's efforts to bring to life this once cold and lifeless earth. The question he raises at the end is both ironical and tragic, 'if this was the end result of creation why did the sun, who certainly must have known how man would misuse the earth, foolishly strive to bring it to life?' Note the direct speech used by the speaker which informs the poetic experience with a sense of immediacy. The poem clearly states Owen's ironic distrust in all 'the traditional ideologies' which have kept soldiers fighting on the battlefield.

Conclusion

"Futility" by Wilfred Owen is a poem on themes of war’s senselessness. So you can learn many things from this poem. You can read this poem if you are doing your Graduation in India. 

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