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Pity In 'Disabled And Refugee Blues'

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How do poets evoke pity in 'Disabled ' and 'Refugee blues '? In this essay, I will be writing about how the theme pity is shown in both poems 'Disabled ' written by Wilfred Owen in 1917 and 'Refugee Blues ' written by W.H. Auden in 1939. A vast amount of similar techniques has been used to evoke pity and I will be analyzing them in detail. In 'Disabled", Owen explores the veritable effects of war on those who live through it by comparing the present life of an injured soldier to his past life which was before the war. As well as how ordinary people who are not true heroes are treated better than someone who has fought in a war for his country. This was all due to the fact that the ex-soldier in the poem has an irreversible …show more content…

Auden has used this hyperbole for effect, since the city has ten million souls, yet they feel alone in a vast crowd. Also, the fact that he has used the word "souls" could connote religion and death. In addition, he also states "..some are living in holes.." This connotes darkness, graves, and death. Moreover, Auden then uses contrasting language again in stanza five: "Went to a committee; they offered me a chair; Asked me politely to return next year:" Here they appear to be helpful and welcoming but they essentially don’t help at all.

While 'Refugee Blues ' uses hyperbole to induce pity, there isn 't any in disabled, however, he has used repetition to emphasise the fact that he 's alone and cannot do anything for himself, and has no independence. He has done this in the last stanza, which leaves you feeling empty and pitiful: "Why don 't they come and put him into bed? Why don 't they come?". It 's as if he 's begging for someone to help him since he has asked twice, and the way he is asking is as if a child needs ‘putting to bed’. This is also a euphemism for death, so he is asking why they aren 't just ending all this …show more content…

In 'Disabled ' Owen has used the metaphor "How cold and late it is!" which shows pathetic fallacy and this concludes the poem with one of the most pitiful endings of any of his work. The cold relates to death and the lateness could mean that 's in late in his life and is time for him to pass away, however, he is still a young man and that is why it makes the reader feel pity and sorrowful. Then in 'Refugee Blues ' Auden has also used a metaphor which shows the pathetic fallacy in order to evoke pity; "Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky, it was Hitler over Europe, saying: 'They must die '..". The word "thunder" has been used to create a threatening aura and Auden has used the weather to connote fear, and the word "rumbling", emphasises the power and threat of Hitler and expresses that these refugees are in danger, which then again portrays the theme of

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