Analysis of Disabled, by Wilfred Owen.

DISABLED:


He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
5 Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.


About this time Town used to swing so gay
 
When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees
 
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,
10 — In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
 
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 disease.


There was an artist silly for his face,

15 For it was younger than his youth, last year.
 
Now he is old; his back will never brace;
 
He's lost his colour very far from here,
 
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
 
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,
20 And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.


One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,

After the matches carried shoulder-high.
 
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
 
He thought he'd better join. He wonders why . . .

25 Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.
 
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
 
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
 
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
 
Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.


Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears
 
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
 
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
 
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
 
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.

And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.


Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
 
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
 
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.



Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,
40 And do what things the rules consider wise,
 
And take whatever pity they may dole.
 
To-night he noticed how the women's eyes
 
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
 
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come

45 And put him into bed? Why don't they come?


ANALYSIS


The words, “dark”, “shivered”, “ghastly” and “grey” (1st paragraph) give this poem a very sad, and negative tone. This is the opposite of the 2nd paragraph, where “Town used to swing so gay” and “glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees”, are used to make it sound a little happy and romantic. It seems to suggest that the  days of youth and happiness are nothing more than distant memories to him, gone forever.


The soldier is scared that no woman will fall in love with him; 'Now he will never feel again how slim
  
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands.' 

The 4th paragraph goes back to the past, when the soldier was a young, healthy soccer play. It says that 'One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg', which means that he was proud when he was wounded during a soccer game, and it made him popular, and feeling tough. But he hates the wounds he gained during the war, he is not proud of them. he feels like a total outcast, espacially by women.
The soldier joined the army at the age of 19, which was quit young.


In the 5th paragraph Owen described how the soldier thought the war would be like; he was very (too) optimistic and naive. the sentence 'of fear came yet' states that he would fear when he would actually be there, but that the soldier didn't expect to fear. 
This paragraph also says that he was waved goodbye with loud cheering, because he was so brave.


The last paragraph comes back to the present. This paragraph is negative again, by using sentences like 'he will spend a few sick years in Institutes.' Again he feels sad about the fact that women don't feel attrackted to him anymore.