With an Identity Disc is a

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by ...

. The poem was drafted on 23 March 1917.

The Poem

Composition

The style of the poem is a

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

. The name of the poem stems from identity discs that British soldiers wore around their necks during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The discs were used as evidence for a soldiers death . This poem is influenced by

William Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Sonnet 104 first two lines; ''To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I ey'd'' and John Keats' poem '

When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be "When I Have Fears" is an Elizabethan sonnet by the English Romantic poet John Keats. The 14-line poem is written in iambic pentameter and consists of three quatrains and a couplet. Keats wrote the poem between 22 and 31 January 1818.Keats, J ...

Writing the Poem

On the night of 14/15 of March 1917, Owen received a concussion after a fall at Le Quesnoy-en-Santerre. On the same night he was evacuated to a Military Hospital at Nesle. On the 17th of March, Owen was moved to 13th Casualty Clearing Station at Gailly. While recovering, Owen sent a letter to his younger brother Colin, Owen sent the poem to Colin but Owen revised it six months later at Craiglockhart. The Poem was finalised in August–September 1917.Stallworthy, Jon. ''Wilfred Owen: The War Poems''. (1994), p.g 11

References

{{Wilfred Owen Poetry by Wilfred Owen 1917 poems British poems World War I poems