essay on the poem futility

Futility Summary & Analysis by Wilfred Owen

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Futility" is a poem by Wilfred Owen, a British soldier during World War I. Written in 1918, the poem elegizes an unnamed soldier lying dead in the snow in France. This image resonates with the poem's speaker, causing him or her to reassess life's value, given death's inevitability. Unlike Owen's other poems, which contain violent bodily imagery , this poem features a calmer, more resigned tone, underlining the speaker's act of mourning the "futility" of life in the face of death.

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The Full Text of “Futility”

1 Move him into the sun—

2 Gently its touch awoke him once,

3 At home, whispering of fields half-sown.

4 Always it woke him, even in France,

5 Until this morning and this snow.

6 If anything might rouse him now

7 The kind old sun will know.

8 Think how it wakes the seeds—

9 Woke once the clays of a cold star.

10 Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides

11 Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?

12 Was it for this the clay grew tall?

13 —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil

14 To break earth's sleep at all?

“Futility” Summary

“futility” themes.

Life and Death

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Futility”

Move him into the sun— Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields half-sown.

Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds— Woke once the clays of a cold star.

Lines 10-12

Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall?

Lines 13-14

—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?

“Futility” Symbols

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“Futility” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

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Juxtaposition

Personification, “futility” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Full-nerved
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Futility”

Rhyme scheme, “futility” speaker, “futility” setting, literary and historical context of “futility”, more “futility” resources, external resources.

"Futility" Reading (Audio) — The English actor Alex Jennings reads "Futility" aloud. 

Wilfred Owen's "Insensibility" — Although it focuses more on his other poem, "Insensibility," this article by the Poetry Foundation explicates Owen's larger poetic perspective on war. 

The Wilfred Owen Association — The Wilfred Owen Association is a British organization dedicated to promoting Owen's life and poetic work.

Wilfred Owen's Biography and Works — The Academy of American Poets website, apart from being a premier resource for all things poetry, has information about Owen's biography and notable works. 

The Poetry of World War I — This article by the Poetry Foundation lists many of the great poems written about (and mostly during) World War I. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Wilfred Owen

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Dulce et Decorum Est

Mental Cases

Spring Offensive

Strange Meeting

The Next War

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A Summary and Analysis of Wilfred Owen’s ‘Futility’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Futility’ was one of just five poems by Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) that were published before his death, aged 25, on 4 November 1918. Like all of his best-known work it’s a war poem, a brief lyric that focuses on a group of soldiers standing over the dead body of a fallen comrade. Below is Owen’s ‘Futility’ followed by a brief analysis of some of its linguistic features and its imagery.

Move him into the sun – Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds, – Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? – O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

The poem uses one of Owen’s favourite techniques, that of pararhyme or half-rhyme (sun/unsown, once/France, seeds/sides, star/stir) alongside full rhyme (snow/know, tall/all).

But the two kinds of rhyme – one perfect and neat, the other denying us the sense of neatness or ‘closure’ provided by a full rhyme – meet in the rhyme at the end of the penultimate line of each stanza: that is to say, ‘now’ (‘If anything might rouse him now’) is a slight off-rhyme of snow/know, and ‘toil’ wants to rhyme with tall/all, but just misses. (Indeed, ‘at all’ in the last line even contains a ‘tall’ within it: ‘a t all ‘ – suggesting an inability to move beyond that paralysing final question.

Similarly, in the first stanza, ‘sun’ rhymes – or half-rhymes – with ‘unsown’, but the sun threatens to reappear in ‘field s un sown’ – a fleeting and illusory reminder of the sunny days of yore when this soldier was ‘At home’ before the war.)

This is worth mentioning because it points up Owen’s clever use of rhyme and pararhyme: from the beginning, there is something amiss in the scenario that is the subject of the poem.

This is revealed explicitly when we get to the second stanza, but the off-rhymes of the first stanza provide a hint of the dark thoughts and the sense of anger that dominate the second half of the speaker’s speech (if we can assume he is speaking the entire thing to his comrades – ‘Move him into the sun’).

Although the speaker and his fellow soldiers seem to think that the ‘kind old sun’ will be able to revive their dead comrade, we readers know that this is hopeful optimism if not naivety on the part of the speaker. Sure enough, the first stanza features more purposeful and confident language: ‘Move him into the sun’, ‘ Always it woke him’, ‘The kind old sun will know’.

The second stanza begins in a similarly confident manner – with the imperative, ‘Think how it wakes the seeds’ – but this confident voice disappears in the ensuing lines, being replaced by the angry use of blunter questions.

There is some reason to doubt whether they are meant to be rhetorical questions. If the speaker of the poem really does begin the poem believing that the sun will be able to rouse the dead man, it may be that the questions which appear in the second stanza are genuine, asked through disbelief and a growing disillusionment.

(For what it’s worth, we think the dash at the start of the penultimate line of the second stanza marks the point at which the speaker goes from bewildered disbelief to out-and-out anger, and that this last question, at least, is a rhetorical one.)

A few words on the image of the sun might be worthwhile here. The second stanza starts with the speaker pointing out all of the seeming miracles the sun can perform: thanks to its power, seeds are transformed into flowers, and long ago, the sun even turned the ‘cold star’ that is Earth into the planet that it now is.

‘Was it for this the clay grew tall?’ picks up the idea in the Bible (specifically, the Book of Genesis) that the first man, Adam, was fashioned from clay which God took from the earth. Was the miracle of Creation all in vain – all, in a word, futile? (Hence the poem’s title, of course.)

And going back further than this, why did the sun bother to wake the earth, to rouse it from its cold dead state so that life might flourish on the land, when man is doomed to die in a snowy field, as this soldier has?

The use of imagery is also very skilful. The ‘clays’ of Earth are echoed by the ‘clay’ that is mankind, pointing up the Bible’s link between man and the earth. Similarly, in that last line, the reference to ‘earth’s sleep’, as well as describing the dormant state of the earth before it warmed up and became habitable, also suggests the eternal ‘sleep’ of the dead soldier, once again connecting mankind and the earth.

‘Futility’ is not a difficult poem and its images and meaning are, on the whole, straightforward. Nevertheless, we hope this short analysis of the poem’s language, imagery, and themes has helped to bring out some of the subtler ideas in it. You can discover more of Owen’s poetry with our analysis of another of his great war poems, ‘Arms and the Boy’ , and our discussion of his classic sonnet ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ .

If you found this analysis of Owen’s poem helpful, you might also like our short analysis of ‘The Windhover’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins and our piece on what makes ‘Adlestrop’ by Edward Thomas one of Britain’s best-loved poems . For more war poetry, check out our analysis of John McCrae’s classic poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ .

13 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Wilfred Owen’s ‘Futility’”

It’s a beautifully sad poem, and interesting to read the analysis.

What a sad poem. I particularly like the image of the sun waking him for work (whispering of fields unsown) against the image that it will never wake him again.

I’d forgotten how much I love reading WW1 poems. I used to own a book of poems by Siegfried Sassoon…

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Wilfred Owen: Poems

By wilfred owen, wilfred owen: poems summary and analysis of "futility".

The speaker says to move him into the sun. The touch of the sun had always woken him before, both at home and in France, but it did not this snowy morning. If there is anything that could wake him it would be the "kind old" sun. It wakes the seeds and once it woke the "clays of a cold star". The speaker wonders if the man's limbs and sides, which are still warm, are now too hard to stir. He wonders if this is why the clay "grew tall", and why the "fatuous sunbeams" bothered disturbing the earth's sleep in the first place.

This short but impactful poem was only one of five published during Owen's lifetime. It appeared in the Nation on June 15th, 1918 and was either written at Ripon or Scarborough. Its format is a short elegiac lyric like a sonnet, though it is not structured as one. It features Owen's famed pararhyme –sun, sown; star, stir; tall, toil – which disturbs the natural rhythm and gives the poem a slightly tortured mood. It is included in composer Benjamin Britten's 1961 War Requiem , which intersperses several of Owen's poems among the Latin passages.

The poem concerns a soldier or several soldiers moving a recently deceased fellow soldier into the sun, hoping its warmth will revive him. Despite the sun's life-giving properties, it can do nothing for the young man; his life is cut short like the "fields half-sown". This was a reality known all too well to the poet – young men were being killed before their lives had barely begun.

The imagery regarding the sun contrasts its vitality and warmth with its ultimate inability to wake one who has died. In the first stanza the sun is personified and described as "kind" and "old", its warmth ancient and affirming. The speaker is quiet and gently hopeful when he asks that the body be moved into the sun. Many of Owen's poems focus on the bond between man and Nature, and here Nature seems like it could revive the speaker's friend.

In the second stanza, however, the speaker becomes more upset and questioning, the tone shifting to accommodate the change in his mindset. The speaker is confused how the sun could wake the seeds and animate a fully-formed man (the Biblical "clay" of Adam), and now can do nothing. This loss of one precious life makes the speaker bitterly wonder why "the fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth's sleep at all". Death has made a mockery of creation; the critic Gertrude M. White writes that "in violating their own human nature, in reversing by violence the natural order, men alienate themselves from Nature herself."

The meaning of the title, then, is the futility of trying to understand how nature could create life but stand by as it is laid to waste. The critic Arthur E. Lane sees Owen creating a "poetic transformation of battlefield death, death particular and individual, into death as the absurd and ultimate denial of the value of life."

Wilfred Owen: Poems Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Wilfred Owen: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How could we interpret the symbol of ‘fruits’?​

Poem title, please?

What are the similarities between the poems Next War and Dulce et Decorum est? for example how grief is portrayed through both is almost the same fashion

I'm not sure what you mean by "next war".

Experience of war in Dulce Et Decorum Est

"Dulce et Decorum est" is without a doubt one of, if not the most, memorable and anthologized poems in Owen's oeuvre. Its vibrant imagery and searing tone make it an unforgettable excoriation of WWI, and it has found its way into both literature...

Study Guide for Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems study guide contains a biography of Wilfred Owen, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of Wilfred Owen's major poems.

• About Wilfred Owen: Poems
• Wilfred Owen: Poems Summary
• Character List

Essays for Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Wilfred Owen's poetry.

• “Fellowships Untold”: The Role of Wilfred Owen’s Poetry in Understanding Comradeship During World War I
• Analysis of Owen's "Strange Meeting"
• The Development of Modernism as Seen through World War I Poetry and "The Prussian Officer"
• Commentary on the Poem “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen
• Commentary on the Poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen

E-Text of Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems e-text contains the full texts of select poems by Wilfred Owen.

• Introduction by Siegfried Sassoon
• Strange Meeting
• Greater Love
• Apologia pro Poemeta Mio

Wikipedia Entries for Wilfred Owen: Poems

• Introduction
• War service

Story Arcadia

Futility Poem Analysis: Wilfred Owen’s War Reflections

Wilfred Owen’s “Futility” is a poignant reflection on the senselessness of war, encapsulated in a short but powerful poem. Written against the backdrop of World War I, where Owen himself served and ultimately lost his life, the poem is a personal testament to the horrors he witnessed. It questions the purpose of existence and the cruel irony of life amidst the destruction of war. The themes of “Futility” delve deep into despair, exploring the loss of young lives and the shattered hope that comes with it. Through vivid imagery and symbolic language, Owen communicates a profound sense of disillusionment with war’s false glory. The poem’s structure and rhythm further enhance its somber tone, mirroring the bleak outlook of soldiers on the front lines. As we analyze “Futility,” we not only dissect its literary craftsmanship but also confront the enduring themes of human suffering and the search for meaning in times of chaos. This work stands as a significant piece within war poetry, offering insights into Owen’s era while resonating with readers today who grapple with similar existential quandaries in a world still plagued by conflict. Dissecting “Futility”: Structure and Symbolism

Wilfred Owen’s “Futility” is a short yet profound poem that encapsulates the despair of war. Its structure, a mere two stanzas, mirrors the abruptness of life and death on the battlefield. The use of half-rhymes, such as “sun” and “once” or “snow” and “grow,” creates a sense of unease, reflecting the poem’s somber mood.

Owen employs vivid imagery to evoke the sun’s life-giving force, contrasting it with the cold reality of a soldier’s death. The sun, traditionally a symbol of hope and renewal, is rendered powerless against the finality of death in war. This symbolism extends to the earth, which nurtures growth but ultimately fails to reawaken the fallen soldier.

The poem’s meter fluctuates, with lines varying in length and rhythm. This inconsistency can be seen as a reflection of the poet’s inner turmoil and the unpredictability of life during wartime. Through these literary devices, Owen conveys a poignant message about the futility of war and its devastating impact on humanity. Exploring Despair in “Futility”

“Futility” by Wilfred Owen delves deep into the themes of war, loss, and existential despair. The poem reflects on the senselessness of a young soldier’s death against the backdrop of World War I. Owen’s portrayal of hopelessness is palpable as he questions the purpose of life amidst such destruction. He wonders why the sun, which once awakened life on earth, cannot revive a fallen comrade.

The theme of futility is central to the poem, as Owen grapples with the idea that all human efforts—including war—are ultimately in vain. This sentiment resonates with readers, placing “Futility” within a broader tradition of war poetry that seeks to make sense of human suffering and conflict. The historical significance of Owen’s work lies in its raw depiction of war’s brutality and its challenge to romanticized views of combat.

Owen’s questioning extends beyond immediate grief; it touches on a universal despair, asking whether there is any meaning in life when such tragedies occur. His work remains relevant today as it continues to offer a powerful commentary on the human cost of conflict and the search for purpose in a world marred by violence. Reflecting on the Echoes of War: Concluding Thoughts on “Futility”

In conclusion, “Futility” by Wilfred Owen serves as a profound reflection on the senselessness of war and the universal sorrow it brings. Through meticulous dissection of its structure, imagery, and symbolism, we’ve seen how Owen’s poem encapsulates the despair of soldiers and questions the very essence of life amidst such destruction. The themes of loss and existential crisis resonate strongly throughout the verses, painting a bleak picture of hope extinguished by war’s cold hand.

Owen’s masterful use of literary devices not only underscores the poem’s somber message but also cements its place in the annals of war poetry. His work remains a poignant reminder of World War I’s horrors and continues to be relevant today, as it echoes the futility felt in contemporary conflicts around the globe.

Wilfred Owen’s legacy endures through “Futility,” offering a timeless lens through which we view the cost of human conflict. His candid portrayal of war’s brutal reality challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about humanity and our search for meaning in the face of overwhelming adversity.

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By Wilfred Owen

Move him into the sun— Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields half-sown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow . If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds— Woke once the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

Summary of Futility

• Popularity of “Futility”: The poem , Futility is written by Wilfred Owen, a British soldier, poet, writer, and activist. It is believed that Wilfred Owen composed it in May 1918. It was later published in The Complete Poems and Fragments. The unique quality of the poem lies in its melancholic expression about the dead soldier and life in general.
• “Futility” As a Representative of Life and Death: The poem starts when the poet is asking another person to move the dead body of a soldier gently. It mainly describes the aftermath of a war. He is telling him to turn his face toward the sun so that he could see it. He, then, adds to the knowledge of the other present there that the soldier used to wake up and get up with the sun but now only the sun knows when he will get up, as he is dead now. It was just until this morning but now only the sun is aware when he will get up like the seeds that the sun makes germinate. The poet questions death whether it takes away every ability of the body that is dead now. The poet alludes to the man’s end of life as mentioned in the most religious texts that man created from the clay to live, grow and have a family. In short, the death of the soldier makes him question the sun, the earth, and life itself.
• Major Themes in “Futility” : Death, the life of a soldier, and the dilemma of life are three major themes of this poem. The poet goes into questioning mode when he sees his friend dead. He asks his other friend to move his body to turn him to the sun that may make him get up but it does not happen. This makes him question the life of a soldier who was alive yesterday and died today. Then he also questions the birth or creation of life from the earth for which life is necessary. His argument is that the sun which is responsible for life on the earth may force his friend to get up and become living in front of his eyes.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Futility”

literary devices are strategies and main devices used to make writings beautiful and meaningful. The analysis of these devices from the poem are given below.

• Assonance : Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such. For example, the sound of /i/ in “Move him into the sun”.
• Alliteration : It is a device that means to use words in quick succession having initial consonants. For example, /th/ sound in “this the” and the sound of /c/ in “Woke once the clays of a cold star”
• Consonance : Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /f/ and /s/ in “At home, whispering of fields half-sown”, /s/ in “Woke once the clays of a cold star” and the sound of /m/ and /s/ in “O what made fatuous sunbeams toil.”
• Enjambment : It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break ; instead, it continues to the next line. For example,

—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive their five senses while reading. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “At home, whispering of fields half-sown”, “Woke once the clays of a cold star” and “If anything might rouse him now.”
• Metaphor : It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of the extended metaphors of life, seeds, the sun, and the earn.
• Personification : The poem shows the use of personifications such as the fields that are whispering and the sun that knows how to awake a person. The poet has personified them as if they have life and emotions of their own.

Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

• Symbolism : Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols such as clay, warmth, and cold to explain life. Clay is symbolic to birth, warmth and cold are symbolic to being alive and dead.

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

• Diction and Tone : The diction of the poem is highly figurative with literary devices as given above. Its tone, however, is not as tragic as it should be. It is rather quizzical.
• Rhyme Scheme : The poem follows the ABCDEEE rhyme scheme in both stanzas.
• Stanza : A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. The poem has two stanzas each having seven verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “Futility” are relevant to use when motiving the youths about the power of nature.

Was it for this the clay grew tall? —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

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Summary and Analysis of Futility – Owen’s poetic epitaph

Table of Contents

The poem is written in the form of an elegiac lyric and it first appeared in 1918 in the Nation. It one of Owen’s final poems, continues the author’s quest to criticise the war, but, more importantly, it is an existential contemplation of life and can be seen as “his own unplanned tragic epitaph”. It is written in the form of an elegy for an unnamed soldier who passed away on the battlefield:

Move him into the sun – Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it awoke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. (ll. 1‒7)

Owen’s use of language in this stanza evokes a mood of serenity, especially if compared to his cacophonous representations of the battlefield in, for instance, Anthem For Doomed Youth. The sun once woke the soldier with a gentle “touch”, it “whispered of fields unsown” even during battle, giving a sense of hope and beauty in complete contrast to the devastated surroundings. It is “kind” and “old”, unaffected by the futility that is characteristic of human life – nature is a passive, everlasting witness of the destruction wrought by mankind.

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Think how it wakes the seeds, – Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved, – still warm, – too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? (ll. 8‒12)

Owen, returning to his Romantic roots, admires the power of nature, the power of the sun. If even a cold star can be turned into a planet teeming with life, then why is humanity incapable of restoring the life of one man – a task seemingly effortless and minor in proportion . Though the man was alive moments ago, his “[…] sides, / Full-nerved, –still warm […]”, all that remains is his corpse. The poet feels powerless and insignificant in the face of death, yet he desperately tries to conceive a means of reinstating life into the man’s body. Finally, Owen conveys his grief by asking – “Was it for this the clay grew tall?”. He cannot comprehend how human life, something so “deer-achieved” and unique, is not worth saving; how it can run its course and then turn to nothing so suddenly after reaching its peak. He is also expressing his anger at the war with newfound fervour – is this pointless slaughter, this “foul tornado,” to quote Owen’s imagery from 1914, all humanity can achieve after centuries of progress?

The poem ends with the following couplet: “– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth’s sleep at all?”. Owen seems to be questioning the need for human life – what is the point in leading such a paradoxical existence where life invariably leads to death? He is unable to reconcile the wondrous nature of life with the complete despair that accompanies its conclusion, which man often imposes upon himself. The poet was killed in action on the 4th of November 1918 and posthumously awarded the Military Cross for his leadership and bravery. Futility, his final testament, seems to conclude that human existence is sometimes merciless and futile, but also exceedingly precious. Although at times bitter and highly critical, the most mature characteristic of Owen’s poetry is its pity. This message, simultaneously hopeful and bleak, is key to understating the multi-faceted growth of his poetry.

“Futility” is one among the published poems during Owen’s life time. In this poem like many of his other poems Owen talks about the ‘futility’ of war that has crippled the lives of young soldiers who are succumbed by the War’s force. The poem is about the fading hopes of soldiers who struggle to live.

The first stanza, very poignantly describes how a deceased soldier is moved to the sun with the hope that the gentle rays of the sun will revive his consciousness. The speaker by the line “whispering of fields half-sown” suggests that the soldier whose life is curtailed by the War is young and it is eagerly wished that the sun, which is a life-giver, will once again bring the dead soldier to life because half of his life experiences are yet to be received. It was always the sun that somehow wakes him up while he was at home or in France. However, the speaker mentioned that even the sun could not bring life into him on this snowy morning. Even though the speaker tried to bring in the image of light through the sun, yet the first stanza ends in a state of despair for the soldier is dead. The soldier who has fought in the war and died there was not prepared to die; he joined the war with the hope of securing his home, his nation.

The second stanza depicts a change in tone of the speaker who takes on a questioning attitude regarding life. The sun and the soil that lead to the growth of seeds is suggestive of how despite the soldier’s death, life has to go on. It signifies the paradox of life and death; while the sun and the soil gives light and life on the one hand, it is disturbing for the speaker to acknowledge that: “what made fatuous sunbeams toil/To break earth’s sleep at all?” The speaker again refers to hope that is futile; even when the soldier is buried, as the seeds in the soil, he cannot be brought back to life.

The sun is personified when it is referred to as ‘kind’ and ‘old’ signifying the age old belief on the sun as a protector of life. Owen’s reference to light can be understood in terms of his religious inclination also. By light, he projects God, the life giver. Even the warmth of the sun lay futile when it falls on the dead. Thus, the title can also be seen in the light of the inability to comprehend the mysteries of life and death and how Nature is a witness to both. This poem, in a way, projects the growing religious crisis in Owen. If the sun, symbolising God has created man then why is He silently witnessing the end of mankind. Indeed, the seriousness of the poem is reflected in the last two lines in which the speaker is clueless as to the notion of life and death. Therefore, it is only silence that pervades in the ending of the poem.

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By Wilfred Owen

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Move him into the sun – Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds, – Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved,- still warm,- too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? – O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

Wordchecker

• futility (noun): an inability to produce any useful result; pointlessness
• awake (awoke, awoken) (verb): to wake up; to waken; to stop sleeping
• whisper (verb): to speak softly
• unsown (adjective): without seed; not planted (NB: “fields unsown” = “unsown fields”)
• rouse (verb): to wake (somebody) up; to stimulate; to animate
• limb (noun): an arm or a leg
• fatuous (adjective): silly and without purpose
• clay (noun): type of earth; earth; soil
• limb (noun): member of the body (leg, arm)
• dear-achieved (adjective): costly to create
• stir (verb): to move; to waken
• fatuous (adjective): purposeless
• toil (verb): to work hard; to labour

Futility was written by Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), a British poet and soldier in the First World War. He was killed in action a week before the war ended.

Here is a commentary on the poem Futility .

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Summarise and explain the key elements of Futility by Wilfred Owen

The front line on a bright winter morning. A soldier has recently died though we don’t know precisely how or when. Owen appears to have known him and something of his background and he ponders nature’s power to create life, setting it against the futility of extinction.

Only five of his poems were published in Wilfred Owen’s lifetime. FUTILITY was one of them. It appeared, together with HOSPITAL BARGE, in "The Nation" on 15 th  June 1918, shortly after being written - at Ripon probably - although Scarborough is a possibility. At about this time Owen categorised his poems, FUTILITY coming under the heading "Grief".

It takes the form of a short elegiac lyric the length of a sonnet though not structured as one, being divided into seven-line stanzas. Owen uses the sun as a metaphorical framework on which to hang his thoughts.

The sun wakes us (lines 2 & 4), stimulates us to activity (3), holds the key of knowledge (7), gives life to the soil (8), gave life from the beginning, yet (13) in the end the "fatuous" sunbeams are powerless.

This is a preview of the whole essay

"Move him into the sun". "Move" is an inexact word yet we feel the movement has to be gentle, just as the command has been quietly spoken. (What a contrast with the body "flung" into the wagon in DULCE ET DECORUM EST.) Of course, we may have been influenced by "gently" in line 2 which reinforces the previous impression, while "touch" again not quite an exact word, is surely light, reverent even.

A similar tone characterises line 3 with "whispering", so soft a sound. "Fields half-sown" ("unknown" in an earlier version) has its literal sense of work on the farm that this man will never now complete, and a metaphorical one as well, suggesting the wider tragedy of life left unfulfilled.

"Even in France" (line 4). No fields here to speak of, no seeds to grow on ground devastated by war. Does the mention of snow startle? Sun, sowing, may have put a different picture in our minds.

Line 7 "kind old sun" again suggests the softer emotions, "old" being literally true of the sun but again, as used here, a term of affection.

Stanza 1, then, seems tender, almost unchallenging. Stanza 2 is very different.

"Awoke", "woke", "rouse". This poem is about their opposite. In stanza 2 Owen invites us to share his thoughts, and soon a note of bewilderment is struck that becomes near despair. The questions he asks, prompted by the sight of his dead comrade, seem direct and rhetorical at the same time. So much has gone into the making of a man ("so dear achieved"), how can the sun that has done all this in the end do so little? Line 12’s "Was it for this the clay grew tall?" has life, in man, reaching its peak merely to come to nothing, and the poem ends, fittingly, in ambiguity: 

-O what made fatuous sunbeams toil

To break earth’s peace at all?

Why ever did the sun do anything so fatuous is one question, while another is - what was the cause of the sun behaving in this way? Depending whether the stress falls on "what" or "made" in line 13. A clever end to Owen’s set of imponderables.

Notice the simplicity of the diction which together with the use of so many words of one syllable accords with the elegiac, deeply felt mood. Owen is careful, however, to avoid smoothness. The first and last lines of each stanza are shorter than the rest. Some lines begin with the stress on the first syllable (trochee), some on the second (iamb). He makes much use of his favourite pararhyme (half rhyme): sun-sown, once-France, seeds-sides, star-stir, tall-toil, snow-now; which also helps to disturb the natural rhythm.

The problem Owen faces in FUTILITY is how to reconcile the miracle of creation with the evil of that creation laid waste, which intimates futility in two senses, first the futility behind the paradox of life made death, and second the futility of trying to find an answer. Where Owen stood at that time in relation to his practice as a Christian is impossible for us to know. At least the bitterness of ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH and DULCE ET DECORUM EST, in FUTILITY gives place to the pity that characterises his finest work, and manages, I think, to transcend the pessimism and the bleakness.

Peer Reviews

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sydneyhopcroft

Quality of writing.

The Quality of Written Communication is fair, but it is hard to gauge a proper mark considering the above comments are not in essay form. As a result of the brief note-styled discourse, the grammar is simplified and sometimes erroneous to the rules of Standard English. I can only recommend that when writing full essays candidates employ all the traditional writing tools for constructing coherent writing and avoid writing in shorthand.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is very good, and some parts are show highly advanced levels of analysis for a GCSE student. Comments on the effect of ambiguity in the syllabic rhythm of the poem are something A Level students are expected to know. And so are ideas about pararhyme and assonance. Close attention to detail is shown with regard to how these features effect the reader, with intelligent comments about the disrupted flow of rhythm. To go further, the candidate could mention how this represents the sudden end of a life; that the natural flow of life has been disrupted by an ugly, man-made intervention, hence to uncomfortable dissonance of the pararhyme and the apparent rejection of conventional sonnet structure. Also notice how he breaks the traditional structure into two stanzas of equal line length - how does the tone change? What is the significance of breaking the traditional sonnet structure in two? How does it effect the typical intensity of fourteen-line sonnets? This is all extra analysis that could be added, but where I would really like the candidate to concentrate further is more contextual appreciation. For instance, notice how Owen implores, as if praying, for the sun to wake the dead. As a born Christian, it's peculiar to see him place his faith in nature rather than God? Some contextual research will tel you why Owen rejected God in favour of nature - by painting sun as the most powerful object in the poem he is suggesting that is will be nature that will take care of the dead's bodies and souls, not God. If this were included, the answer would be a resounding top mark answer. That isn't to say what is written is not strong enough, but because a bit more contextual appreciation is required, as well as a standard essay format, the candidate cannot achieve top marks just yet.

Response to question

The writings here are more noted-based than appearing as a proper essay, but nonetheless they make some very valuable points about the language, structure and context of Wilfred Owen's 'Futility' that all GCSE candidates should look to be aware of. The candidate express in bullet point form a number of ideas regarding how the structure informs the poem, and how the language choice creates a submissive serenity and tranquility. They also conduct some contextual research - the poem was indeed labelled by Owen as a poem of grief, as it mourns the loss of a soldier's life. Digging further, the candidate could talk that 'Futility' was really as intimate and as sentimental as Owen ever got, because to convey so much sadness about the immeasurable loss of life during WWI wouldn't have given him the scope for the irony and bitterness that colours in his other poems. The candidate makes many intelligent references to 'Anthem for Doomed youth' and 'Dulce et Decorum est', so there are comparative points included, showing knowledge of a variety of Owen's poetry. It is also good that the candidate outwardly recognises the most important aspect of Owen's poetry - The Pity of War.

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• Word Count 751
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Futility of war Poem Essay

Futility Wilfred Owen is a famous war poet of the present century. ‘Futility’ is one of his most popular poems. ‘Futility’ is a remarkable rendering of the grim realities of war.

The pity of war is the subject matter of many of Owen’s poems. The main theme of the poem entitled ‘Futility’also, is war. Aman has been killed in the war. He was a farmworker.

While he was the rays of the sun and the whispering sound of the gentle wind always woke. I’m But now when he is dead, nothing can wake him up-neither the sun nor the wind, Thus, the poet has exposed in this poem the meaninglessness of life which is so easily lost just to satisfy the lust of a handful of rulers.

The message of the poet is to expose the futility of life because of war. War is a futile game. It cannot bring good to mankind. The poet here appears not only as a poet but also as a benefactor of mankind. He suggests shunning the path of war.

Man’s life should not be made so cheap. Life has some important roles to play. There are fourteen lines in this poem. The language of the poem is simple but powerful. Adjectives have been wisely chosen-Kind the old sun” Full-netted, still warm, too hard to stir’ are examples of this point. There is dramatic touch in these lines-

“O What made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all ? “

The title of the poem is Futility’. It means meaninglessness. The poet has exposed the meaninglessness of human life in war. Hence, the title of the poem is apt and significant.

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Wilfred Owen Futility Summary Analysis Questions Answers

The poem “Futility” written by Wilfred Owen is an anti-war poem was first brought out in the year 1920. Several battles were fought in the first World War which started in 1914 and continued upto 1918. In France, there was a battle field on which an English soldier succumbed to fighting. His death was shocking, tragic and heart-rending. This incident led Owen to write the poem, “Futility”.

Futility Poem Text

Wilfred Owen

Move him into the sun –

Gently it’s touch awoke him once, 

At home, whispering of fields unsown. 

Always it woke him, even in France, 

Until this morning and this snow. 

If anything might rouse him now

The kind old sun will know. 

Think how it wakes the seeds, 

Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. 

Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, 

Full-nerved – still warm – too hard to stir? 

Was it for this the clay grew tall? 

– O what made fatuous sunbeams toil

To break earth’s sleep at all? 

Click on the  Play  button below to get the Summary and Analysis of the poem 

Summary of the poem Futility:

The poet asks a dead soldier to be moved to the sun. The sun awoke the man every morning when he was a farmer. It awoke him in France where he fought battles. Now the soldier is dead. Only the sun which is the source of all energy can revive the dead soldier. The sun wakes the seeds. The sun brought life to the earth which was once cold. It nourished and developed life and made it strong and hard.

But life ends cruelly and miserably in battle-field. The poet asks why the sun was so foolish to create and evolve life on the earth when it is to end so cruelly in the battle-field. 

Title of the poem Futility:

The title of the poem, “Futility” can be justified variously. The word “Futility” means uselessness. The poem exposes the uselessness of the creation of life by the sun while many a life ends so carelessly in war before its time. In another sense, we find in war nothing glorious, nothing noble and even nothing praiseworthy. It results only in the huge loss of life. So war is a futility. 

On the other hand, the poet speaks about the futility of the work of the sun to bring life to birth. The sun is the great giver of life. Sunbeams are the source of energy which mould the earth with the thrill of life. The sun not only cause life to come into existence but it also helps life to develop into full grown beauty with youthfulness. But the poet thinks that the sun’s effort has been fruitless or futile as wars kill millions of young people before they can manifest into meaningful existence. This justifies the title of the poem, “Futility”.

Wilfred Owen as a poet:

Wilfred Owen was born on March 18, 1893 at Oswestery, a small town in Shropshire in England. The first World War broke out in 1914 and he joined the war in 1915. He had an injury to his brain for a fall in the battlefield. On November 4, 1918 he was killed in an attempt to cross the Sambre Canal. 

The few poems he left us indicate that he was a great thinker, and a critic of life. The pictures of war drawn by his suggestive words fill the readers with profound pity ; ‘pity of war’ is the subject of his poetry. He finds nothing glorious, romantic or heroic in war. 

He began his poetic career with Keats and Tennyson as his models. It was the friendship with Sassoon that made him a war poet. He wrote his poems in the trenches and exposed the horror and pity of war. 

Chief Works of Wilfred Owen:

The chief works of Wilfred Owen include – “The Send Off”, ” Strange Meeting “, ” Spring Offensive”

Source of the poem Futility:

The poem, “Futility” was first brought out in the year 1920. Several battles were fought in the First World War, started in 1914. In France there was a battle field on which an English soldier succumbed to fighting. His death was shocking and tragic. This incident led Wilfred Owen to write the poem, “Futility”. The poem “Futility” is taken from the volume “Collected Poems” published in 1920.

Critical Analysis of the poem Futility:

The poem, “Futility” is an anti-war poem. The poet exposes the horror and pity of modern warfare. Modern warfare is nothing but the destruction of life and creative principles of the earth and Nature. The poet objectively and ironically presents the picture of the horror of war, pity of young life struck down in war in the prime of his life. The futility of creative principles and energy are symbolised by the sun. 

There is a story here in the background of the poem. A young farmer of England came to France to fight in battle. He woke up one morning in winter as he used to wake up everyday at the touch of sunrays. But on that day, he was killed in a battle. 

The poet then turns to the ‘kind old sun’ who created life on the earth. The sun is called old as the sun existed long before the earth. The sun is the great giver of life on the earth long since. The sun moulds the earth with thrill of life. The sun which is the source of energy and principle of life can not bring back life to the dead young man. The poet in his pity, anger and sense of horror asks the sun why it created life if it can not preserve and sustain life. The poet puts the question ironically in the poem. 

Questions Answers from the poem Futility:

1. How does the poet draw the picture of the dead and poet’s vain attempt to bring him back to life?  

Ans : In the poem, “Futility”, the poet has shown that a soldier is killed in a battle in France during the First World War. The poet wants the dead body to be carried to the sunrays. The sun’s gentle touch roused the young man from bed everyday when he was at home in England and woked in the fields. With the sunrise he woke up and went to the fields.

He was sent to France to join war and here also the sun woke him up every morning until the snowy morning of the day on which he was killed. Thus, the sun is great supplier of life on the earth. Its blessings and warmth keep men full of life and energy. So the poet thinks that the sun may rouse the dead man because death is also a kind of sleep. Besides, the sun knows the secret of life and enlivens and energises everything on the earth. So the poet wants the dead soldier to be moved into the sun. 

2. What is the poet’s attitude to war in the poem Futility? 

Ans : In the poem, “Futility” not protest but pity combined with sympathy is the predominant attitude of the poet. The poet has shown his profound sympathy for those young people who laid down their lives not for any higher ideal of life, but for evil design of war-mongers. The poet has opined that the birth of a child is meaningless unless the war can be banished from the surface of the earth. 

3. Explain the title of the poem Futility and what attitude is expressed in the title? 

Ans : Futility means uselessness and insignificance. There may two meanings in the title. Human life is futile because a young man us struck down in the battle field prematurely. The young soldier is killed in the battle field before the fulfillment of their dreams and desires. The title, therefore, suggests not only the horrors of modern war but also the pity. 

Futility may also mean the insignificance of the sun’s hard and long efforts to create living beings. The sun creates and develops human life – make it strong, well-nerved, hard but wars destroy human life suddenly and cruelly. Modern wars prove how useless are the creations of the sun. The kindness of the sun is contrasted with the cruelty of modern wars. 

4.  “O what made fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth’s sleep at all”   

What is earth’s sleep? Why are sunbeams called fatuous? 

Ans : The eternal slumber into which the earth was lost when it was created, with no existence of life in it, has been termed as ‘earth’s sleep.’

    Wilfred Owen has portrayed the sun as an utter failure as a creator of life. The sun is the springboard of life on earth. It is the sun who makes the seeds sprout. It is the sun who supplies life and energy on earth and makes a child to grow up into well-built young man with mobility and vigour. The sun, though a creator, is not at all a saviour. He can not revive a lost life. He completely fails to restore the dead soldier to life. So the poet calls the sunbeams fatuous. 

5. What is the central image of the poem, “Futility” ? 

Ans : The central image of the poem, “Futility” is the sun. Futility refers to the futility of the sun’s toil to bring life to the planet, earth. The sun is the source of life and energy. It not only gives life to the dead mass of the matter but also provides energy and light to the living creatures. It awakes man everyday and inspires him to go to the work. The sun is the giver, inspired and developer of life. But irony is that it can not preserve life and revives the dead man. 

   With the sun image comes the associated image of ‘wake’. The sun wakes the dead mass of matter; it wakes man every morning; it wakes the seeds. ‘Wake’ has the denotative and connotative meanings. So the sun creates, grows and develops creatures and plants but the sun is failure to preserve life, specially the young lives destroyed in modern warfare. 

6. Bring out the pathos contained in the poem, “Futility”.

Ans : The predominant tone underlying in the poem, ” Futility ” is the pity of war. One young soldier falls dead in the battle field. It is a pity that he is killed in the youth before the fulfillment of his dreams. It is sad that he was born, and nourished with so much loved and care into a well-built man only to be killed so meaninglessly in war without any sound reason untimely. This is the pity of war underlying the pathos immensely. 

7. What is meant by ‘clay’ and what is the meant by ‘tall’ in the poem, “Futility”? 

Ans : The term ‘clay’ means earth, dust. Here it suggests the actual substance of matter from which our body is made. The earth is made of dead matter. It was vitalised by the heat of the sun. Life developed on earth. 

The word ‘grew tall’ suggests the evolution and development of living matter on the earth. ‘Tall’ here is a very suggestive word. Human life is the result of centuries of evolution. Tiny protoplasm has grown and developed into supreme creation which is destroyed in war mercilessly. 

8. How are the acts of war contrasted with those of the sun in the poem, “Futility”? 

Ans : In the poem, ” Futility”, the sun has been presented as a creator of life while war as a destroyer of it. The sun is not only made the seeds sprout but toiled hard for millions of years also create human beings on earth. It nourished them with so much care and love, and developed them with mobility and vigour. But war kills them so carelessly in a moment. Thus the creator, sun is sharply contrasted with the destroyer, war. 

9.  “Move him into the sun”  

Who appeals to him into the sun? Why does he appeal?  

Ans : The poet appeals to move the young dead soldier into the sun. 

   The young soldier is lying dead in a trench in the battle field. The trench is shady because sunbeams can not enter there. The poet thinks that the sun can restore the soldier to life because the sun is the creator of life on earth and it knows the mystery of life and evolution. So the poet appeals the dead soldier to be moved into the sunshine. 

10.  “Woke once, the clays of a cold star.”  – What is meant by ‘clays of cold star’ and who woke ‘the clays of cold star’? 

Ans : The expression ‘clays of cold star’ means the mass of the earth. 

    The sun roused this earth from sleep to life. Before the creation of life on this earth, there was no throb or stir at all. It was the sun which stirred first this planet to the pulsation of life. 

11. What is the central idea of the poem, “Futility”? 

Ans : Man’s life is futile un the context of the devastating war that takes place. Life has grown and developed through centuries but it is cut short by destructive wars. 

     In the poem, the poet shows how the life of a young soldier has become useless by the havoc created by war. On a certain battle-field in France he is found dead. The sun is the life-giver not only to human beings but also to plants. But it us very sad that this powerful sun will no be able to bring the dead soldier back to life. If human life comes to an abrupt cruel end in this way, the sun’s hard work is futile. 

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Author Interviews

A conversation with the author of 'there's always this year'.

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks to Hanif Abdurraqib about the new book There's Always This Year . It's a mix of memoir, essays, and poems, looking at the role basketball played in Abdurraqib's life.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The new book "There's Always This Year" opens with an invitation. Here's a quote - "if you please imagine with me, you are putting your hand into my open palm, and I am resting one free hand atop yours. And I am saying to you that I would like to commiserate here and now about our enemies. We know our enemies by how foolishly they trample upon what we know as affection, how quickly they find another language for what they cannot translate as love." And what follows from that is a lyrical book about basketball but also about geography, luck, fate and many other things, too. It's also about how the career arc of basketball great LeBron James is woven through the life of the book's author, Hanif Abdurraqib, who joins us now. Welcome back to the show.

HANIF ABDURRAQIB: Thank you for having me again, Scott. It's really wonderful to be here.

DETROW: You know, I love this book so much, but I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. It's part memoir, part meditation, part poetry collection, part essay collection. How do you think about this book?

ABDURRAQIB: You know, it's funny. I've been running into that too early on in the process and now - still, when I'm asked to kind of give an elevator pitch. And I think really, if I'm being honest, that feels like an achievement to me because so much of...

DETROW: Yeah.

ABDURRAQIB: ...My intent with the book was working against a singular aboutness (ph) or positioning the book as something that could be operating against neat description because I think I was trying to tie together multiple ideas, sure, through the single - singular and single lens of basketball. But I kind of wanted to make basketball almost a - just a canvas atop which I was laying a lot of other concerns, be it mortality or place or fatherhood and sonhood (ph) in my case. I think mostly it's a book about mortality. It's a book about the passage of time and attempting to be honest with myself about the realities of time's passing.

DETROW: Yeah, it seems to me like it could also be a book about geography, about being shaped by the place you grew up in and that moment where you choose to stay or leave, or maybe leave and come back. And I was hoping you could read a passage that that deals directly with that for us.

ABDURRAQIB: Of course. Yeah. This is from the third quarter or the third act of the of the book.

(Reading) It bears mentioning that I come from a place people leave. Yes, when LeBron left, the reactions made enough sense to me, I suppose. But there was a part of me that felt entirely unsurprised. People leave this place. There are Midwestern states that are far less discernible on a blank map, sure. Even with an understanding of direction, I am known to mess up the order of the Dakotas. I've been known to point at a great many square-like landscapes while weakly mumbling Nebraska. And so I get it. We don't have it too bad. People at least claim to know that Ohio is shaped like a heart - a jagged heart, a heart with sharp edges, a heart as a weapon. That's why so many people make their way elsewhere.

DETROW: What does Ohio, and specifically, what does Columbus mean to you and who you are?

ABDURRAQIB: I think at this stage in my life, it's the one constant that keeps me tethered to a version of myself that is most recognizable. You know, you don't choose place. Place is something that happens to you. Place is maybe the second choice that is made for you after the choice of who your parents are. But if you have the means and ability, there are those of us who at some point in our lives get to choose a place back. And I think choosing that place back doesn't happen once. I mean, it happens several times. It's like any other relationship. You are choosing to love a place or a person as they are, and then checking in with if you are capable of continuing to love that place or person as they evolve, sometimes as they evolve without you or sometimes as you evolve without them. And so it's a real - a math problem that is always unfolding, someone asking the question of - what have I left behind in my growth, or what has left me behind in a growth that I don't recognize?

So, you know, Columbus doesn't look the way - just from an architectural standpoint - does not look the way it looked when I was young. It doesn't even look the way it looked when I moved back in 2017. And I have to kind of keep asking myself what I can live with. Now that, for me, often means that I turn more inward to the people. And I began to think of the people I love as their own architecture, a much more reliable and much more sturdy architecture than the architecture that is constantly under the siege of gentrification. And that has been grounding for me. It's been grounding for me to say, OK, I can't trust that this building will stay. I can't trust that this basketball court will stay. I can't trust that this mural or any of it will stay. But what I do know is that for now, in a corner of the city or in many corners of the city, there are people who know me in a very specific way, and we have a language that is only ours. And through that language, we render each other as full cities unto ourselves.

DETROW: Yeah. Can you tell me how you thought about basketball more broadly, and LeBron James specifically, weaving in and out of these big questions you're asking? - because in the first - I guess the second and third quarter, really, of the book - and I should say, you organize the book like a basketball game in quarters. You know, you're being really - you're writing these evocative, sad scenes of how, like you said, your life was not unfolding the way you wanted it in a variety of ways. And it's almost like LeBron James is kind of floating through as a specter on the TV screen in the background, keeping you company in a moment where it seems to me like you really needed company. Like, how did you think about your relationship with basketball and the broader moments and the broader thoughts in those moments?

ABDURRAQIB: Oh, man, that's not only such a good question, but that's actually - that's such a good image of LeBron James on the TV in the background because it was that. In a way, it was that in a very plainly material, realistic, literal sense because when I was, say, unhoused - right? - I...

ABDURRAQIB: ...Would kind of - you know, sometimes at night you kind of just wander. You find a place, and you walk through downtown. And I remember very clearly walking through downtown Columbus and just hearing the Cavs games blaring out of open doors to bars or restaurants and things like that, and not having - you know, I couldn't go in there because I had no money to buy anything, and I would eventually get thrown out of those places.

So, you know, I think playing and watching basketball - you know, even though this book is not, like, a heavy, in-depth basketball biography or a basketball memoir, I did spend a lot of time watching old - gosh, so much of the research for this book was me watching clips from the early - mid-2000s of...

ABDURRAQIB: ...LeBron James playing basketball because my headspace while living through that was entirely different. It's like you said, like LeBron was on a screen in the background of a life that was unsatisfying to me. So they were almost, like, being watched through static. And now when I watch them, the static clears, and they're a little bit more pleasureful (ph). And that was really joyful.

DETROW: LeBron James, of course, left the Cavs for a while. He took his talents to South Beach, went to the Miami Heat. You write - and I was a little surprised - that you have a really special place in your heart for, as you call them, the LeBronless (ph) years and the way that you...

ABDURRAQIB: Oh, yeah.

DETROW: ...Interacted with the team. What do you think that says? And why do you think you felt that way and feel that way about the LeBronless Cavs?

ABDURRAQIB: I - you know, I'm trying to think of a softer word than awful. But you know what? They were awful.

DETROW: (Laughter).

ABDURRAQIB: I mean they were (laughter) - but that did not stop them from playing this kind of strange level of hard, at times, because I think it hit a point, particularly in the late season, where it was clear they were giving in and tanking. But some of those guys were, like, old professionals. There's, like, an older Baron Davis on that team. You know, some of these guys, like, did not want to be embarrassed. And...

ABDURRAQIB: ...That, to me, was miraculous to watch where - because they're still professionals. They're still NBA players. And to know that these guys were playing on a team that just could not win games - they just didn't have the talent - but they individually did not want to - at least did not want to give up the appearance that they weren't fighting, there's something beautiful and romantic about that to me.

DETROW: It makes a lot of sense why you end the book around 2016 when the Cavs triumph and bring the championship to Cleveland. But when it comes to the passage of time - and I'll say I'm the exact same age as you, and we're both about the same age as LeBron. When it comes to the passage of time, how do you present-day feel about LeBron James watching the graying LeBron James who's paying so much attention to his lower back? - because I don't have anywhere near the intense relationship with him that you do. But, I mean, I remember reading that Sports Illustrated when it came out. I remember watching him in high school on ESPN, and I feel like going on this - my entire adult life journey with him. And I feel like weirdly protective of LeBron James now, right? Like, you be careful with him.

ABDURRAQIB: Yeah.

DETROW: And I'm wondering how you think about him today and what that leads your brain to, given this long, long, long relationship you have with him.

ABDURRAQIB: I find myself mostly anxious now about LeBron James, even though he is still - I think he's still playing at a high level. I mean, I - you know, I think that's not a controversial statement. But I - while he is still playing at a high level, I do - I'm like everyone else. So I'm kind of aware that it does seem like parts of him - or at least he's paying a bit more attention to the aches that just come with aging, right?

ABDURRAQIB: I have great empathy and sympathy for an athlete who's dedicated their life to a sport, who is maybe even aware that their skills are not what they once were, but still are playing because that's just what they've done. And they are...

ABDURRAQIB: ...In some cases, maybe still in pursuit of one more ring or one more legacy-building exploit that they can attach to their career before moving on to whatever is next. And so I don't know. And I don't think LeBron is at risk of a sharp and brutal decline, but I do worry a bit about him playing past his prime, only because I've never seen him be anything but miraculous on the court. And to witness that, I think, would be devastating in some ways.

And selfishly, I think it would signal some things to me personally about the limits of my own miracle making, not as a basketball player, of course, but as - you know, because a big conceit of the book is LeBron and I are similar in age, and we have - you know, around the same age and all this. And I think a deep flaw is that I've perhaps attached a part of his kind of miraculous playing beyond what people thought to my own idea about what miracle is as you age.

And so, you know, to be witness to a decline, a sharp decline would be fascinating and strange and a bit disorienting. But I hope it doesn't get there. You know, I hope - I would like to see him get one more ring. I don't know when it's going to come or how it's going to come, but I would like to see him get one more. I really would. My dream, selfishly, is that it happens again in Cleveland. He'll come back here and team up with, you know, some good young players and get one more ring for Cleveland because I think Cavs fans, you know, deserve that to the degree that anyone deserves anything in sports. That would be a great storybook ending.

DETROW: The last thing I want to ask about are these vignettes and poems that dot the book in praise of legendary Ohio aviators. Can you tell me what you were trying to do there? And then I'd love to end with you reading a few of them for me.

ABDURRAQIB: Yeah. I'm so glad you asked about that. I haven't gotten to talk about that as much, and that - those were the first things I wrote for the book. I wrote 30 of them...

DETROW: Really?

ABDURRAQIB: ...I think. And of course, they all didn't make it. But that was kind of an exercise, like a brain exercise. And I was trying to play with this idea of starting out with folks who were literally aviators. So it begins with John Glenn and Lonnie Carmen, and then working further and further away from aviation in a literal sense, much like the book is working further and further away from, say, basketball in this concrete sense - because ascension in my mind isn't just moving upward, it is expansion, too. It is, I think, any directional movement away from where your position is. And so I got to be kind of flexible with ideas of ascent and growth and moving upward.

DETROW: And the last aviator you did this for was you. And I'm hoping you can read what you wrote about yourself to end this.

ABDURRAQIB: Oh, gosh. OK, yeah. This is Hanif Abdurraqib, Columbus, Ohio, 1983 to present. (Reading) Never dies in his dreams. In his dreams, he is infinite, has wings, feathers that block the sun. And yet in the real living world, the kid has seen every apocalypse before it arrives, has been the architect of a few bad ones. Still wants to be alive most days. Been resurrected so many damn times, no one is surprised by the magic trick anymore.

DETROW: That's Hanif Abdurraqib, author of the new book "There's Always This Year: On Basketball And Ascension." Thank you so much.

ABDURRAQIB: Thank you, Scott. I really appreciate it.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLEETWOOD MAC SONG, "ALBATROSS")

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Trespassing in the Archive: Poetry in Conversation with History

I'm thrilled to invite submissions for a volume entitled Trespassing in the Archive:  Poetry in Conversation with History, which is under contract with Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.  

I’m envisioning this project as an edited collection of scholarly essays about works of contemporary innovative poetry that engage archival texts.  The essays will consider topics ranging from the ethics of archival projects, the aesthetics of the archive, questions of access to archives for creative practitioners and how this accessibility has shaped the works themselves, the politics of the archive, and the ways in which poetry has offered a hypothetical testing ground where the power dynamics, upheavals, and discontent reflected historical texts can be renegotiated. 

Please submit finished essays in advance of the deadline for consideration.  The length guidelines are flexible.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.  

I look forward to reading your work!

All the best, Kristina 

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How to Breathe With the Trees

By Margaret Renkl

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South.

Even on a computer screen, Ada Limón, who is serving her second term as poet laureate of the United States, projects such warmth and reassurance that you could almost swear she was sitting beside you, holding your hand. This kind of connection between strangers, human heart to human heart, is so rare as to be startling, especially these days.

April is National Poetry Month, and it strikes me that no one is better positioned than Ms. Limón to convince Americans to leave off their quarrels and worries, at least for a time, and surrender to the language of poetry. That’s as much because of her public presence as because of her public role as the country’s poet in chief. When Ada Limón tells you that poetry will make you feel better, you believe her.

In her nearly weekly travels as poet laureate, Ms. Limón has had a lot of practice delivering this message. “Every time I’m around a group of people, the word that keeps coming up is ‘overwhelmed,’” she said. “It’s so meaningful to lean on poetry right now because it does make you slow down. It does make you breathe.”

A poem is built of rests. Each line break, each stanza break and each caesura represents a pause, and in that pause there is room to take a breath. To ponder. To sit, for once in our lives, with mystery. If we can’t find a way to slow down on our own, to take a breath, poems can teach us how.

But Ms. Limón isn’t merely an ambassador for how poetry can heal us . She also makes a subtle but powerful case for how poetry can heal the earth itself. At this time of crisis, when worry governs our days, she wants us to look up from our screens and consider our own connection to the earth. To remember how to breathe by spending some time with the trees that breathe with us.

In the United States, about half of poets laureate spend their terms developing a signature project that fosters a greater appreciation of poetry. Ms. Limón has two: “ You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World ,” an anthology of nature poetry that will be released on Tuesday; and “ You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks ,” a series of poetry-centered picnic-table-style installations in seven national parks. Each will be inscribed with the words of a poet associated with that landscape and also with a writing prompt designed to nudge readers to try their own hands at making a poem. These initiatives will be formally introduced on Thursday at the Library of Congress in conjunction with the library’s inaugural Mary Oliver Memorial Event.

Whether sweeping and magnificent or nearly microscopic — a majestic national park vista, say, or an ant colony’s communal effort to save its own inadvertently uncovered eggs — the natural world has always been a catalyst for lyricism. “There’s a reason why people go to these incredible natural landscapes and think, ‘I have no words,’” Ms. Limón said. “And yet the poets, we love to see if we can figure out some words: ‘Let’s see if we can name that kind of wonder, that kind of awe.’”

The connection between the beauty of the world and the beauty of the language is more crucial now than it has ever been. In its intimacy, its revelation not just of nature but also of the perceiving self, nature poems offer one of the few paths we have to consider the risks to the natural world in a way that is free of partisan rancor.

Those risks are foremost in Ms. Limón’s mind. In considering what her signature project as poet laureate would be, the thought that came to her was both small and impossibly huge: “I just want us all to write poems and save the planet,” she writes in the introduction to “You Are Here.”

“We all have nature poems within us — every single one of us,” Ms. Limón said when I asked her about this statement. “I wanted to have a book that not only allowed us to think of many different ways that nature poems can exist and move in the world, but also give people permission to write their own nature poems and think about it in a different way.”

“You Are Here” is an anthology of nature poems by 50 of the most accomplished poets working today, including the PEN/Voelcker Award winner Rigoberto González, the former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo, the Pulitzer Prize winner Diane Seuss and the Kingsley Tufts Award winner Patricia Smith, among many others who have won national awards for their work. “I just asked for these original poems, like, ‘Will you make this poem that speaks back to the natural world, whatever that means to you?’” Ms. Limón said.

The poems she got in response represent a great diversity of poetic voices and forms, and also a diversity of natural landscapes. If your idea of nature poetry is, as Ms. Limón said only half-jokingly, “a young gentleman walking to a mountain and having an epiphany,” this anthology will put that notion to rest.

Whoever you are, you will find yourself and your own world in the expansiveness of this collection. Even in the specificity of each poet’s own inimitable experience, you will find your own voice and your own perceiving self, for the natural world includes us and enfolds us all. Nature can be found on a mountain, yes, but it can also be found on a city stoop. Or in a drainage ditch. Or in the sky above a prison yard. Wherever we are, that is where the natural world is, too. It is there. We just have to notice it.

Writing a poem might seem like the least practical way imaginable to address melting glaciers, bleaching coral, drought, pollution and the like, never mind the overarching catastrophes of climate change and mass extinction. What can language do to save us now? What can something so small as a poem possibly do to save us now?

The answer lies in poetry’s great intimacy, its invitation to breathe together. We read a poem, and we take a breath each time the poet takes a breath. We read a nature poem, and we take a breath with the trees. When the trees — and the birds and the clouds and the ants and even the bats and the rat snakes — become a part of us, too, maybe that’s when we will finally begin to care enough to save them.

Margaret Renkl , a contributing Opinion writer, is the author of the books “ The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, ” “ Graceland, at Last ” and “ Late Migrations .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

10 books to add to your reading list in April

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Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your April reading list.

April’s book releases cover some difficult topics, including Salman Rushdie discussing his 2022 maiming, Leigh Bardugo’s fiction about the dark arts and Ada Limón’s poetry anthology about our fragile world. However, like April, there is also sunshine: Leif Enger’s wild Great Lakes love story, Helen Tworkov’s beautiful memoir of Buddhism and a collection of the inimitable Maggie Nelson’s essays. Happy reading, happy spring!

I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel By Leif Enger Grove Press: 336 pages, $28 (April 2)

An unusual and meaningful surprise awaits readers of Enger’s latest, which takes place largely on Lake Superior, as a man named Rainy tries to reunite with his beloved wife, Lark. While the world around this couple, a dystopian near-future American where billionaires control everything, could not be bleaker, the author’s retelling of the myth of Orpheus (who went to the underworld to rescue his wife) contains the authentic hope of a born optimist.

The Familiar: A Novel By Leigh Bardugo Flatiron Books: 400 pages, $30 (April 9)

Bardugo departs from novels of dark academia in a standalone to make the hairs on your neck stand up, set in 16th century Spain. A hidden Sephardic Jew and scullery maid named Luzia Cotado matches wits with fellow servant Guillén Santángel. Luzia discovers a secret of Guillén’s, but she’s already fallen in love with him. And because he knows hers, too, they might both avoid the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a gorgeous tale of enchantments both supernatural and earthly.

The Sleepwalkers: A Novel By Scarlett Thomas Simon & Schuster: 304 pages, $28 (April 9)

A couple honeymoons at a Greek resort. What could go wrong? In Thomas’ hands, plenty – especially as the author has never written a comfortable story; her books, from “PopCo ” to “Oligarchy,” crackle with unreliable characters, as well as big philosophical ideas. In this case, the new marriage’s breakdown is chronicled through letters between the spouses, and sometimes bits of ephemera, that ultimately untangle a dark mystery relating to the title.

The Garden: A Novel By Clare Beams Doubleday: 304 pages, $28 (April 10)

Few novels of literary fiction are written as well as “The Garden,” let alone given its sadly relevant retro setting, a 1940s country-estate obstetrical program. Irene Willard walks through its gates having endured five miscarriages; pregnant again, she and her war-veteran husband George desperately hope for a live birth. But as Irene discovers more about the woman who controls all here, Dr. Bishop, she fears carrying to term as much as she once feared pregnancy loss.

Reboot: A Novel By Justin Taylor Pantheon: 304 pages, $28 (April 23)

David Crader, former teen TV heartthrob, just wants to reboot his career when his old show “Rev Beach” has a moment. His life has devolved through substance abuse, divorce and underemployment. But when he and colleagues launch a remake, devolution continues: The protagonist’s struggles are mirrored by climate-change issues, from flooding to wildfires. Despite that darkness, Taylor’s gift for satire might make this a must-read for 2024 beach bags.

You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World By Ada Limón (Editor) Milkweed Editions: 176 pages, $25 (April 2)

A wondrous artist herself, Limón is currently poet laureate of the United States, and this anthology is part of her signature project, “You Are Here,” which will also feature poetry as public art in seven national parks. Released in conjunction with the Library of Congress, the collection features 50 previously unpublished poems by luminaries including Jericho Brown, Joy Harjo, Carl Phillips and Diane Seuss, each focusing on a piece of regional landscape.

Like Love: Essays and Conversations By Maggie Nelson Graywolf Press: 336 pages, $32 (April 2)

While all of the pieces in Nelson’s new book have previously been published elsewhere, they’re made fresh here both through being collected and through their chronological placement. Readers can practically watch Nelson’s incisive mind growing and changing as she speaks with colleagues such as Hilton Als and Judith Butler, or as she writes about queerness, motherhood, violence, the lyrics of Prince and the devastating loss of a friend.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder By Salman Rushdie Random House: 204 pages, $28 (April 16)

On Aug. 12, 2022, the author Salman Rushdie was speaking at upstate New York’s Chautauqua festival when a man rushed the stage and attempted to murder him. Rushdie, a target of Iranian religious leaders since 1989, was permanently injured. In this book, he shares his experience for the first time, having said that this was essential for him to write. In this way, he answers violence with art, once again reminding us all that freedom of expression must be protected.

Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America By Helen Tworkov St. Martin’s Essentials: 336 pages, $29 (April 16)

Dworkov, founder of the magazine Tricycle, chronicles her move from a 1960s young-adult interest in Buddhism to travels through Asia and deep study in the United States of the different strands that follow the Buddha’s teachings. Tworkov mentions luminaries such as the artist Richard Serra, the composer Charles Mingus and the Dalai Lama, but she’s not name dropping. Instead, she’s strewing fragrant petals from her singular path to mindfulness that may help us find ours.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War By Erik Larson Crown: 592 pages, $35 (April 30)

Even diehard Civil War aficionados will learn from Larson’s look at the six months between Lincoln’s 1860 election and the surrender of Union troops under Maj. Robert Anderson at Charleston’s Ft. Sumter. Larson details Anderson’s secret Christmas redeployment and explores this individual’s contradictions as a former slave owner who loyally follows Lincoln’s orders. The author also shares first-person perspective from the famous diaries of the upper-class Southerner Mary Chesnut. All together, the book provides a riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult.

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