Analysis of The Last Laugh

Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)



'Oh! Jesus Christ! I'm hit,' he said; and died.
Whether he vainly cursed or prayed indeed,
The Bullets chirped-In vain, vain, vain!
Machine-guns chuckled,-Tut-tut! Tut-tut!
And the Big Gun guffawed.

Another sighed,-'O Mother, -Mother, - Dad!'
Then smiled at nothing, childlike, being dead.
And the lofty Shrapnel-cloud
Leisurely gestured,-Fool!
And the splinters spat, and tittered.

'My Love!' one moaned. Love-languid seemed his mood,
Till slowly lowered, his whole faced kissed the mud.
And the Bayonets' long teeth grinned;
Rabbles of Shells hooted and groaned;
And the Gas hissed.


Scheme AXXXA XXXXA XXXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111101 1011011101 01010111 011101111 00111 0101110101 111101101 0010101 100101 001101 1111110111 11010111101 0010111 1111001 0011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 578
Words 96
Sentences 16
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 149
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 31, 2023

28 sec read
211

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. more…

All Wilfred Owen poems | Wilfred Owen Books

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