The Send Off

The Send-Off‘ is a unique poem in that it is both very short, and almost vaguely written: it is made up almost exclusively of full rhymes for perfectly regular verses. It was written at Ripon, and revised at
Scarborough, and it shows the aftermath of a send-off party – the aftermath of the joy that follows conscripted men.

Stanza 1

Lines 1 and 2
The juxtaposition of singing and darkening lanes create a contrast, suggesting an ominous journey. The joy of singing is set against a backdrop of increasing darkness. The phrase “close, darkening lanes”
suggests confinement, impending danger and a sense of loss and labyrinthine confusion. This foreshadows the sombre tone of the poem and hints at the tragic fate of the soldiers. The alliteration of the phrase
‘shiding shed’ imitates whispers, creating the idea of a secret being withheld.

Line 3
The soldiers’ faces are described as ‘grimly gay’. It shows a forced or uneasy cheerfulness. This is an example of oxymoron. They are proud soldiers, ready to serve their motherland. Yet somewhere deep down,
they are aware of the uncertainty of their lives.

Line 4 and 5
‘Breasts stuck all white’ refers to the soldiers adorned with flowers, symbolising honour and sacrifice. The white colour contrasts purity with impending darkness. However, The poet uses the word ‘wreathes’ to
describe the flowers that the women pin to the chests of their husbands or brothers. The word is significant because it has obvious connotations surrounding death. The simile foreshadows the soldiers’ fate.
Wilfred Owen very skillfully embeds the theme of death amidst the seemingly celebratory atmosphere. This idea gets strongly established by the fact that the first stanza ends with the word ‘dead’- a tragic death
is what awaits these soldiers. The stanza depicts both a joyous occasion as well as an image of funeral ritual.

Stanza 2

Lines 1 and 2
The introduction of porters and a casual tramp as observers adds an external perspective. The use of the adjectives ‘dull’ and ‘casual’ emphasises the detachment the detachment of these onlookers, highlighting
the societal indifference to the soldiers’ plight. The tramp’s intense gaze suggests a deeper understanding or awareness of the soldiers’ grim destiny.

Line 3
The tramp’s sorrow at missing the soldiers from the upland camp adds a layer of poignancy. They will be missed because the likelihood is that they will not be returning from war. The term ‘upland camp’ gives the
idea of the innocent young soldiers’ departure from a higher, more idealistic state and being thrown into the jaws of the war.

Lines 4 and 5
In these two lines the sense of secrecy and brooding darkness grows deeper. The word ‘unmoved’ gives a sense of emotional detachment and lack of empathy for the unfortunate soldiers. Everyone, even the
porters, the tramp- all know that where the soldiers are going is a miserable place, and yet they are powerless to stop their advance. The personifications of the signal nodding and the lamp winking hint at a
secret conspiracy against the innocent soldiers.

Stanza 3

Lines 1
In the first line of stanza 3, there is a sibilance of the ‘s’ sound which conforms to the idea of a secret conspiracy hinted at in the concluding lines of the previous stanza. The use of the word ‘hushed’ implies that
the government are treating the soldiers as children like an adult tells a child to hush. It exposes the demeaning nature of the government, involved in conspiracy against these soldiers. ‘Hushed up’ also suggests
that nobody wants to talk about the uncomfortable truth, that a lot of innocent lives are taken away by war.

Line 2
This line could mean that the troops that have been sent to war were not owned by their country. They are, in fact, not owned by anybody. This line is a statement to emphasise their humanity. Unlike the
government which looks upon them as a means to win the war and does not consider their humanity, the poet in this line emphasises their humanity.

Line 3
The use of the word ‘these’ instead of ‘they’ to refer to the soldiers gives the idea that they are rather treated as commodities by the government, as a means to win the warfare. Their humanity is not considered.
They suffer from the lack of individual identity. Apart from this, it also hints at the uncertainty of the soldiers’ future. No one gets to know where they are sent and what would happen to them.

Lines 4 and 5
These lines are ironic as the flowers given to the soldiers by their wives, sisters or daughters were given with the hope that they would be victorious and would come home safely. But the soldiers, sent to some
unknown remote province, know that they would possibly not return alive. Hence they mock the hopeful wishes once they reach the battlefield.

Stanza 4

Lines 1 and 2
This is a rhetorical question that addresses the reader directly. The soldiers will not witness the same “fan fare” when they return as they did when they left. The expression “beating of great bells” is ambiguous
and could refer to the celebration of the return of the soldiers or the funeral bells. The word ‘wild’ denotes an abundance of animalistic behaviour, expressing how the soldiers lose human qualities during war. This
in turn creates the idea that the secret being kept is the true nature of war.

Lines 3, 4 and 5
Owen creates a morose tone through the repetition of the word ‘few’. The repetition brings out the sad reality that the war will take away most of the young lives and only ‘a few’ will return. The phrase “for drums
and yells” is used in juxtaposition with the “great bells” mentioned in the previous lines. It shows how the expectations of the soldiers’ are very different to the reality. The soldiers will not return with the proud gait
that they had when they left, but rather they will ‘creep back’. This suggests the poor physical state that results in impaired movement. This may also suggest the emotional impact of war on them. Here we have
an autobiographical element since Wilfred Owen himself suffered from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during his service as a soldier in WW1. Only a very few soldiers will return, but they will be depressed
and ‘silent’. What is more brutal is that as the few soldiers return to their ‘quite villages’, they will forever be marked by what they went through , and thus they are going to be apart from the rest of society. The
expression ‘still village wells’ implies a deathly calm, a peacefulness that the soldiers have forgotten about. And “up half-known roads” show that they have forgotten even their homes. The soldiers who will
return, will not fully return, but will return in pieces, with fragmented minds and dark memories.