Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Here's a virtual movie of the British World War One poet Wilfred Owen reading his poem "S I W Self Inflicted Wound".
Synopsis of S.I.W.
Owen’s use of the title S.I.W. for this poem refers to the military abbreviation for Self-Inflicted Wound. The poem is an account of how an ordinary young boy-soldier, Tim, joins up. He is seen off by his family. His father would rather his son was dead than a coward. His mother hopes he will get a Blighty one. Tim’s sisters wish they were able to fight and his brothers send him gifts of cigarettes. Their letters are always the same. Owen refers to Tim as ‘the lad’. His family have no idea about his circumstances thinking that he is safe in a Y.M. (Young Men’s Christian Association) hut because he told them so in order to stop them worrying. He is in fact under fire as he writes letters home.
Under constant bombardment the boy’s nerves are worn down and he begins to lose his courage. Neither wounds, shell shock nor leave free him from the trap of the trenches. Even death avoids helping him to escape the torture of being under fire. The soldier has seen other men who have shot off their own hands. Their families are never told. Eventually the man can stand the pressure no longer.
His body is found by a party of men out checking the barbed wire. The soldier is dead. At first they think his rifle may have gone off accidentally or he might have been shot by a German sniper. However, they later find an English bullet in his body and realise he has put his rifle to his teeth and shot himself in the head. The letter home to his family tells them that Tim died smiling..
Kind Regards
Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2014
Here's a virtual movie of the British World War One poet Wilfred Owen reading his poem "S I W Self Inflicted Wound".
Synopsis of S.I.W.
Owen’s use of the title S.I.W. for this poem refers to the military abbreviation for Self-Inflicted Wound. The poem is an account of how an ordinary young boy-soldier, Tim, joins up. He is seen off by his family. His father would rather his son was dead than a coward. His mother hopes he will get a Blighty one. Tim’s sisters wish they were able to fight and his brothers send him gifts of cigarettes. Their letters are always the same. Owen refers to Tim as ‘the lad’. His family have no idea about his circumstances thinking that he is safe in a Y.M. (Young Men’s Christian Association) hut because he told them so in order to stop them worrying. He is in fact under fire as he writes letters home.
Under constant bombardment the boy’s nerves are worn down and he begins to lose his courage. Neither wounds, shell shock nor leave free him from the trap of the trenches. Even death avoids helping him to escape the torture of being under fire. The soldier has seen other men who have shot off their own hands. Their families are never told. Eventually the man can stand the pressure no longer.
His body is found by a party of men out checking the barbed wire. The soldier is dead. At first they think his rifle may have gone off accidentally or he might have been shot by a German sniper. However, they later find an English bullet in his body and realise he has put his rifle to his teeth and shot himself in the head. The letter home to his family tells them that Tim died smiling..
Kind Regards
Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2014
