Personification: “merciless iced east winds that knife us”- The wind is so brutal it is as though it is another opposing soldier stabbing them with a bayonet. The harsh weather environments are another evil enemy to them. The cold could potentially be the real killer as the men wait the call from their leaders.
Listing: “war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy”- Listing can often draw a mood out of the text. It could be an uncomfortable feeling or in this case a slow sad mood. The listing here represents dullness, sadness and pain. The men will all feel so alone out in the exposed open, looking into the storm the war seems to be forever ongoing and the harsh bomb struck environment is never ending.
Simile:
- “Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”
- “Like a dull rumour of some other war”
“Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles” – The anguish of the men is shown in the wind. The imagery that Owen creates is that of soldiers struggling in the bramble. The tough, prickly, and annoying plant, is trying to drain the men of their energy. This shows the reader the conditions of war; and like Brambles if they try escape they will got more tangled and intertwined with it to the point where it seems impossible to escape.
Rhetorical question:
“What are we doing here?” The soldiers are wondering what they are still doing in this place. They don’t feel connected to the war they don’t feel like they are apart of it. “Is it that we are dying?” It could mean that they are losing hope and they feel like they are slowly dying.