About
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was born on 18 March 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire. After studying at Birkenhead and Reading, he worked as a lay assistant to a vicar and then taught English in Bordeaux. In 1915, he enlisted in the British Army and was sent to the Western Front in 1916. Suffering from shell shock, he was treated at Craiglockhart War Hospital, where he met Siegfried Sassoon, who encouraged his writing. His poems, such as 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', vividly depict the horrors of war. He was killed in action on 4 November 1918, one week before the Armistice. His work, largely published posthumously, became a landmark of First World War poetry.
* 1893-03-18 — † 1918-11-04
Major works
- Dulce et Decorum Est (1917)poem
- Anthem for Doomed Youth (1917)poem
- Strange Meeting (1918)poem
- Futility (1918)poem
Key milestones
- 1917Met Siegfried Sassoon at Craiglockhart War Hospital, who became his mentor.
- 1918Awarded the Military Cross for bravery during an attack at Joncourt.
- 1918Killed in action on 4 November, one week before the Armistice.
Themes
WarPityDeathSufferingMemory
Sources: war.web.ox.ac.uk · poetryfoundation.org