'Poetry teaches us the enormous force of a few words'.
Choose a poem which you have read recently and show how it demonstrates the truth of this text.
A poem which i have read recently and shows how a poem can teach us the enormous effect of a few words is 'Disabled' by Wilfred Owen.
The poem was written at the time of world war 1. It is about a young man who returns from war as a 'broken old' man. His apperance has changed completely. He has gone from being a handsome, popular man, who woman loved, to being a nothing. Looked upon with pity only. His injuries are horrific. He has lost both his legs and part of his arm. He is confined to a wheelhair for the remainder of his life. However hurt he is by his injuries, his pain is greater in his heart. Emotionally, he is dead, drained. He joined the army to gain respect from friends and to be longed for by woman. He returned from war with none of these.
In the first stanza, Wilfred Owen is reflecting on the mans' injuries. His description 'He sat in a wheelchair waiting for dark, And shivered in his gastly grey suit of grey' would have you thinking at first that this is an old man who is alone and is unable to do anything for himself. This is not far from the truth, rather the exception as it is not an old man, who has had an experience of life, it is a young man who never will. 'Voices of the boys playing' are a reminder to him of how he would never be able to play again.
In the second stanza 'About this time Town used to swing so gay.' This shows how he was so happy when he was in his prime last year, and now he has absolutely nothing to be happy about. 'In the old times, before he threw away his knees.' This shows how hastily the young man acted in order to get respect and impress girls. None of which he got in the end. 'Now he will never feel again how slim girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, All of them touch him like some queer diesase.
