1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: a show that pays tribute to people of the past 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: by telling their stories. Today, I'm Gay Bluzier and in 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: this episode we're talking about the life and death of 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: one of the world's most admired wartime poets. The day 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: was November four, at the tail end of the First 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: World War, British poet Wilfred Owen was killed in action 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: during an assault on a German held canal on the 10 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: western front of France. Owen was only twenty five years 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: old at the time of his death, which occurred just 12 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: one week before Armistice Day, when the Allied Powers signed 13 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: a ceasefire with Germany. Now considered one of the greatest 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: English poets of the twentieth century, nearly all of the 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: poems Owen is known for were written in the year 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: leading up to his untimely death. Wilford Owen was born 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: on March eighteenth, eighteen ninety three, in Shropshire, England. Shortly 18 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: after his grandfather's passing in eighteen ninety seven, the Owen 19 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: family moved to Birkenhead, where Wilford began his education. Nine 20 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: years later, when he was a teen, the family moved 21 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: to Shrewsbury. Wilfrid resumed his studies at the local technical 22 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: school and developed an interest in the arts. He was 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: especially fond of poetry, the work of Keats and Shelley 24 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: in particular. He began writing his own verse as a 25 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: teenager and kept at it in his spare time while 26 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: attending London University. Unfortunately, Wilford wasn't able to secure a scholarship, 27 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: so he wound up leaving the school and taking a 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: job as an assistant to a vicar and the small 29 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: village of Dunstan. He spent two lonely years at the vicarage, 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: working during the day and reading and writing poetry in 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: the evenings. In nineteen thirteen, when he was about twenty 32 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: years old, Owen began teaching English at a school near Bordeaux, France. 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: There he became acquainted with an elderly poet and pacifist 34 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: writer named Laurent Thelad, who encouraged Owen to devote himself 35 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: to poetry full time. Sadly, that plan went on hold 36 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: when war broke out in the summer of nineteen fourteen. 37 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: The following year, Owen returned to England and volunteered with 38 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: the war effort. By January of nineteen sixteen, Owen had 39 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment 40 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: and sent to the front lines in France. Two years later, 41 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: Owen wrote about his initial motivations for enlisting, including his 42 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: aspiration to chronicle what he called the pity of war. 43 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: He explained, quote, I came out in order to help 44 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: these boys directly by leading them as well as an 45 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: officer can, indirectly by watching their sufferings, that I may 46 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: speak of them as well as a pleader can. In 47 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, Owen got the chance to do both. Throughout 48 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: the month of April, he and his platoon endured both 49 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: record breaking cold and snow, as well as a constant 50 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: barrage of heavy shelling. For four long days and nights, 51 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: Owen and his men were pinned down in an open 52 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: field near the town of Saint Quentin, with back up 53 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: still days away. The soldiers were forced to wait in 54 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: the snow, with no chance to sleep or even change 55 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: their clothes. Owen wrote vividly of the harrowing experience in 56 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: a letter to his mother, saying quote, I kept alive 57 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: on Brandy the fear of death and the glorious prospect 58 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: of the cathedral town just below us, glittering with the morning. 59 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: For twelve days, I did not wash my face, nor 60 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: take off my boots, nor sleep a deep sleep. For 61 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: twelve days we lay in holes where at any moment 62 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: a shell might put us out. When Owen finally got 63 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: to sleep later that month, he was awoken by an 64 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: exploding shell, which blasted him into the air. He spent 65 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: the next several days huddled in a shallow hole, with 66 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: the body of his dead friend lying in a ditch 67 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: not six feet away. When the coast seemed clear, Owen 68 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: returned to base camp shaken and disoriented. He was quickly 69 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: diagnosed with shell shock, a new term at the time 70 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: for what we would call PTSD today. Though his commanding 71 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: officer was reluctant to let him go, Owen was soon 72 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: dispatched for psychological treatment at the Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. 73 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: His time there proved incredibly fruit full, offering not only 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: a chance to heal from his trauma, but also to 75 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: process it through the lens of poetry. His psychologist, Dr a. 76 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: Brock encouraged him to edit the hospital journal as a 77 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: way to help confront his recent suffering in France. Up 78 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: until then, Owen had only written of his experiences in 79 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: letters to his mother and brother. Dr Brock's insight provided 80 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: Owen with a new means of self expression through the 81 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 1: hospital journal, a change that was pushed even further by 82 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: the coincidental arrival of a new patient six weeks and 83 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: do his time at the hospital, Owen was joined by 84 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: Siegfried Sassoon, a friend and well established fellow poet who 85 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: quickly became his mentor. Owen had begun writing poems about 86 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: his first three months in the war and was eager 87 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: to get another poet's perspective. Sassoon provided encouraging feedback and 88 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: ultimately became a major influence on the younger its work 89 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: and a champion of that work after Owen's untimely death. 90 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: When their treatment was finished, both men returned to active 91 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: duty in France, but only Sassoon would live to see 92 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: an end to the fighting. As for Owen, he fell 93 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: one week short when he was shot and killed on 94 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: November four, nine eighteen. It happened during a failed attempt 95 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: by the British to cross the Sombre Canal in German 96 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: controlled territory. A week later, on the day armistice was declared, 97 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: Owen's parents received a telegram informing them of their son's 98 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: death as the town church bells rang in celebration. Only 99 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: a handful of Owen's poems were published during his lifetime, 100 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: but a collection of his work was released with an 101 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: introduction by Sassoon in December of nineteen twenty. Owen is 102 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: widely admired for his war poems, in particular, all of 103 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: which were written between August nine, seventeen and September eighteen, 104 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: a few months before his death. This creative period coincides 105 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: with his stay at the Craiglockhart War Hospital, which granted 106 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: the soldier a rare respite from the ongoing horrors of war, 107 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: so that he might process and document the ones he 108 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: had already lived through firsthand. In hindsight, that time seems 109 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: like a hard won gift, not just for Owen and 110 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: his legacy, but for the men in his battalion whom 111 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: he spoke for, and for readers past, present and future. 112 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: Owen's poetry often depicts the brutality of trench and gas 113 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: warfare in graphic detail. This offered a stark contrast to 114 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: the triumphant flag waving poems of war popularized by earlier 115 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: English poets. But Owen's poems aren't just indictments of war. 116 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: He wrote bleak illustrations of the physical landscapes that surrounded 117 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: him and his men, but he also celebrated the camaraderie 118 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: that took root there and kept them going despite the 119 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: bitter conditions they faced. Throughout his poems, Owen displays a 120 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: compassion for his fellow soldiers, both friend and foe alike, 121 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: yet balances these tender feelings with his indignation for the 122 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: waste and sacrifice of war, something that he attributes not 123 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: to enemy combatants, but to those in power who quote 124 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: might relieve us and will not. The work of Wilfred 125 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: Owen is a memorial to those who died in the 126 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: First World War, but it's also a monument to anyone 127 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: who ever fought for king or country. Another great poet, 128 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: Dylan Thomas, expressed it best. He described Owen as quote 129 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: a poet of all times, all places, and all wars. 130 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: For there is only one war, that of men against men. 131 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: Many of Owen's poems remain well known today, including Anthem 132 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: for Doomed Youth, Strange Meeting, and the Last Laugh, all 133 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: of which can be easily found online. But because podcasts 134 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: are an auditory experience, it only seems right to share 135 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: one of Owen's poems here. It does contain upsetting imagery, 136 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: so consider this the end of the episode if you'd 137 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: rather read it for yourself. It's called dul say at 138 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: decorum st. And it's one of the poet's best. He 139 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: never got the chance to record readings of his own work, 140 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: so I offer my reading on his behalf. As a 141 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 1: quick note, the final line of the poem is a 142 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: Latin phrase from the Roman poet Horace. It translates as 143 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. 144 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 1: Dul say at decorum st. By Wilfred Owen. Bent double 145 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: like old beggars, under sacks, knockneed coughing like hags, we 146 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: cursed through sludge, until on the haunting flares we turned 147 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: our backs, and towards our distant rest, began to trudge. 148 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: Men marched asleep, many had lost their boots, but limped 149 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: on bloodshod, all went lame, all blind, drunk with fatigue, 150 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: deaf even to the hoots of gas shells dropping softly 151 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: behind gas gas quick boys in ecstasy of fumbling, fitting 152 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: the clumsy helmets just in time. But someone still was 153 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: yelling out and stumbling and floundering, like a man in 154 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: fire or lime, dim through the misty pains and thick 155 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: green light as under a green sea. I saw him 156 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: drowning in all my dreams, before my helpless sight. He 157 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: plunged jes at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some 158 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: smothering dreams, you too could pace behind the wagon that 159 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: we flung him in and watch the white eyes writhing 160 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: in his face, his hanging face like a devil's sick 161 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: of sin. If you could hear at every jolt the 162 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: blood come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs, bitter as 163 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, 164 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: you would not tell with such high zest to children 165 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: ardent for some desperate glory. The old lie dulce et 166 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: decorum est pro patria moriy. I'm gay Blusier, and hopefully 167 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 168 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you enjoyed the show, you and 169 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 170 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: t d i h D Show. You can also write 171 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: to us at this Day at I heart media dot com. 172 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: Thanks to Channeler Mays for producing the show, and thank 173 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:17,319 Speaker 1: you very much for listening. I'll see you back here 174 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more 175 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 176 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.