The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and strops,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Analysis/Commentary

This whole poem is an allusion to a parable of the old testament and compares it with the modern war in which the author in forced to fight. In L.8 we can see the first reference to the modern conflict when Abraham builds "parapets and trenches" as a preparation for the sacrifice of his first born child. The parable narrate that at this point an angle (L.10) stopped Abram and convinced him to sacrifice a trapped ram instead, but owen changes the endig of the story strumentalizing it in ordet to critique the war that slew "half the seed of Europe, one by one" (L.14-15). Abraham in this poem is the personification of all the nations that fought and started WWI while Isaac rapresent the joung and innocent generation sent to die as a sacrifice on the altar of war. As in most of Owen's poems no rhyme scheme can be found exept some (L.15-16) used to reinforce an argument.