Wilfred Owen portrays the horror of war by using dramatic contrasts, powerful imagery, devastating irony and by generating a strong feeling of sympathy for the subject of the poem. The contrasts between health and illness feature heavily in the poem and give a before and after picture of the subjects life. Before the war the boy in the poem had played football, "After the matches." "It was after football" and now he does not even …showed first 75 words of 1006 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1006 total…death. This poem is moving and saddening. It uses stark contrasts to show how deeply a war can affect those who take part and graphic imagery to give insight into the reality of war. The illusions of grandeur alluded to in the poem are completely contradicted with the descriptions of the real events. This poem shows the horror of war with all the raw and unrestrained emotion of someone who has experienced the events themselves.