On Seeing a Piece of Our Heavy Artillery Brought into Action

Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great Gun towering towards Heaven, about to curse;
Sway steep against them, and for years rehearse
Huge imprecations like a blasting charm!
Reach at that Arrogance which needs thy harm,
And beat it down before its sins grow worse.
Spend our resentment, cannon, -- yea, disburse
Our gold in shapes of flame, our breaths in storm.

Yet, for men's sakes whom thy vast malison
Must wither innocent of enmity,
Be not withdrawn, dark arm, thy spoilure done,
Safe to the bosom of our prosperity.
But when thy spell be cast complete and whole,
May God curse thee, and cut thee from our soul!


Analysis/Commentary

In this poem the author describes an artillery attack on enemy lines. Owen, in the first stanza, is actually personificating the artillery piece and actually prizing it's work, although it is a "Grate gun towering towards heaven" as if it would try to kill God himself. The poet actually sees the cannon as a way to disbruse (spread) their own resentment over the enemy. In the second stanza he blesses the cannon for the work and encourages him to continue in order to save the soldiers' lifes, but in the last 2 lines he curses it because it still brings death and destruction when "the spell is whole" (when the shell hits the deck).