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War vs. Sport: A Soldier's Irony

The poem "Disabled" compares war to sport through the experiences of a disabled soldier. It uses imagery like "half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race" to represent how the soldier lost half his life mentally and physically to the war. The poem shows the present and past attitudes towards the soldier, with lines like "Some cheered him home, but as crowds cheer Goal" highlighting the greater celebration of athletic achievements over a soldier's sacrifice. Through words, phrases and techniques, the poet emphasizes the differences between winning a war and winning a sports competition. Overall, the poem draws on the effects of war, the soldier's attitudes, and literary devices to contrast sport and war.

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156 views1 page

War vs. Sport: A Soldier's Irony

The poem "Disabled" compares war to sport through the experiences of a disabled soldier. It uses imagery like "half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race" to represent how the soldier lost half his life mentally and physically to the war. The poem shows the present and past attitudes towards the soldier, with lines like "Some cheered him home, but as crowds cheer Goal" highlighting the greater celebration of athletic achievements over a soldier's sacrifice. Through words, phrases and techniques, the poet emphasizes the differences between winning a war and winning a sports competition. Overall, the poem draws on the effects of war, the soldier's attitudes, and literary devices to contrast sport and war.

Uploaded by

carliehtcheung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The poem “Disabled” is written based on a nameless soldier’s account of his experience in

fighting World War 1 and being injured in the war. Wilfred Owen compares the idea of sport and
war in the poem by the effects of war, the present and the past attitudes of the disabled soldier
and the writer’s use of words, phrases and techniques.

To begin with, the writer compares the ideas of sport and war by the effect of war. Visual
imagery and metaphor are used in the line “half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race” to convey the
effect of war. The word ’hot race’ is supposed to be used to describe the race in sports. Yet, in
this poem, the persona used it to describe the war. Then ’half his lifetime lapsed’ represents the
soldier lost half of his life mentally and physically in the war. When he came out of the military,
he was no longer the full and complete soul and also body but a person so traumatized and
harmed by the war that he came out not able to do anything anymore due to his mental and
physical conditions. The line successfully compares the idea of sport and war.

Moreover, the idea of sport and war can be also shown by the present and past attitude of the
disabled soldier. Irony is conveyed by two lines, the capitalisation “Some cheered him home, but
as crowds cheer Goal” and the repetition “Why don’t they come?” which conveys a sense of
pitiful desperation highlights the desperate pleas and begging. The contrast between the
applause and celebration that he won a match with and the sadness of the crowd on his return.
The two lines further emphasize the sense of irony as the public is more willing and engaged to
celebrate athletic achievements more than a soldier’s sacrifice. The importance of sport or
football is way higher than war in people’s hearts. The idea of sport and war is also clearly
shown by the present and past attitude of the disabled soldier.

Last but not least, the writer uses words, phrases and techniques to highlight the idea of sport
and war. The French word “Esprit de corps” means a feeling of pride in the group to which one
belongs. It illustrates the friendship in athletics and soldiers. While the italics “Thanked”
emphasizes the minimal genuine care and appreciation he received. This also conveys the
difference between winning a war and winning a sports competition.

All in all, Wilfred Owen compares the idea of sport and war in the poem by the effects of war, the
present and the past attitudes of the disabled soldier and the writer’s use of words, phrases and
techniques.

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