Futility

Move him into the sun—
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.


Think how it wakes the seeds—
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved,—still warm—too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?

Meaning Of Some Words


    once = at some period in the past
    whispering of fields unsown = in past when the farmer soldier was in England ,the sunlight seemedto remind him his everyday agricultural duties.By the gentle touch of sunshine he used to go to the field.
    this morning and this snow = this snowy morning
    the kind old sun = the sun is old as it has been in the sky ages after ages.This sun is the cause for life on earth.A mattrial that creates life can only be kind.
    woke once the clays of a cold star = sunbeams made the earth warm to the cold soil o the earth and made it suitable for living creatures.
    cold star = earth
    limbs =parts of the body
    dear achieved =gained with loving care
    fatuously = foolish
    clay = lifeless body of the English soldier



Futility - Title and Subject



The word futility means uselessness or fruitlessness.This poem describes the death of a young English soldier.Sun ,the creator of the life of the young dead soldier can not restore his life .Sun,the creator of all living beings-plants and animals, is helpless to bring the life of the young English soldier back .The creation of life on earth seems to be futile.Inevitable,destructive war makes life futile on earth.According to Owen war is a fruitless industry where innumerable young soldiers are butchered mercilessly making a massacre mutually by both the warring parties.This industry has not any profit ,rather it makes only loss .The sense of futility is generalized for the sake of warning to the humanity. Each war in this world snatches away an innumerable promising soldiers meaninglessly for some trifle cause making the near and dear bereaved.Had been no life on earth, no grief would have been felt.Owen ,the creation of lives on earth seems to be futile.Sun has has worked ages after ages to create human lives .Thus the inappropriateness of creation of human lives on earth is clarified by this anti-heroic poem in the hands of atrocities of war.The Pacifist poet,as revealed in this poem, wanted total abolition of war.So he indirectly warns us by pictorial poem gained through direct experience in war the cruelty of war,the ruthless destructive result aftershock or aftermath of war.

The poet addresses his friends and asks one of them to bring the body of the dead soldier who has been killed in one of the battlefields of France in the World War I into the sunlight. The poet says so because the gentle touch of the sunshine used to wake him once at home in England to make him aware of his unsown field,and even in France.The sun is the only possible source of hope.If anything could rouse the dead soldier from his eternal sleep ,it is the sun.This sun not only wakes up man but also wakes the vegetation.A seed is germinated in the presence of air,water and sunshine.Without sunlight a plant can not be sprouted.The growth of trees and plants also depends on sunlight.Thus the whole creation of plants and animals is fully credited to benevolent sun.The poet is desperate to call the sun as only the magic power for which the dead soldier can get back its life.The dead youth grew into a strong and stout man with great care only for the power of the sun.He is dead now though his body is still warm.Can the sun bring its life back?


Why does the sun create life on earth?
The young man grows into a strong and stout man but why?

So Owen sorrowfully complains why the sun has taken the vast trouble to create life on earth ,if it is to be wiped out so casually in an inconsiderable manner.Here in this poem,Futility, the poet reveals the pity and sympathy for the immature wastage of the promising youth who could have lived longer enjoying life in this marvelous earth.But the war stops his further enjoyment.This is a universally accepted truth in case of meaningless killing of the youth.Thus the indignation of the poet is clear when he throws questions to the benevolent ,kind sun on the appropriateness of the creation of life on earth and the creation of this human universe.The hard drudgery of the sun prove to be futile when the poet sees the untimely death of his war-mate.If the well reared Soldier dies alike,then what is the value of creation in this earth.What is the value of Earth ?



Message of Owen in Futility

No other English soldier watched the terrible horror of war so deeply as Owen observed.He is able to convey the true feelings and pictures of war because he was a trench poet who had experienced the true sides of war field.So he never formed heroic or idealistic attitude toward war and warriors.War has a destructive evil power .In this poem,Futility, we are told of an English youth reared carefully to be a well built man(Are limbs,so dear -achieved,are sides,/Full nerved ) but ultimately meets his inevitable death in hands of destroying war.Here Here the the kind creator Sun is helpless.The malevolent war defeats the precious creation created by the benevolent Sun.Thus a hope is being mercilessly made futile in the name of a futile warfare.The pacifist Owen presents an original picture of the front.Now we are to take final decision what to do either continuing warfare as before or stop the throwing of ammunition immediately.As Owen foretells in this poem continuing war means destruction of lives ans making a slaughter house for the well built youths : stopping the bloody battle means the progress of civilization and letting the youth to enjoy full life span giving their valuable contribution to the humane society for the progress of this humanitarian civilization.
Some questions with answers on the FUTILITY that will help understanding the inner meaning .

1."Move him into the sun"-
Who is to be moved into the sun?
The young English soldier,just killed in war,is to be moved into the sun.
2. When did the soldier in the poem,Futility die?
The soldier died in the early morning.
3. Where did the young soldier die?
The young soldier died in a trench in the battlefield of France.
4. Describe the weather.
It was a snowy morning.
5. What did the gentle touch of the sun remind the young soldier at home in the morning?
The gentle touch of the sun used to wake him up to remind him of unsown field.
6. Where did the sun wake the soldier besides home?
The sun used to wake up the young English soldier every morning even in France.
7.Till when did the sun wake him up?
The sun woke the English soldier till the day before the morning of his death.
8."Think how it wakes the seeds-"
It is the sun who wakes the seeds.
9.Who will know how to rouse the soldier even after his death?
The alone will know.
Why are dear achieved limbs and full nerved sides hard too stir?
Death has petrified the well built body of the soldier.
10. What are called fatuous and why?
The sun rays are called foolish,because they are unable to revive life that has been created by themselves.