by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter, born on March 18, 1893, in the village of Oswestry in Shropshire, England, was the eldest son of a minor railway official. Educated at the Birkenhead Institute and at Shrewsbury Technical College, Owen matriculated in 1911 but without the honors necessary to enter a university. Like his mother, to whom he was quite close, Owen was religious and even considered pursuing a career in the church. In 1911-12, he worked as an unpaid lay assistant to a vicar in the poor country parish of Dunsden, where he taught Bible classes, led prayer meetings, and attended missionary gatherings. Owen meanwhile began to compose poetry. After suffering a serious illness in 1913, Owen left to teach English in Bordeaux, France, and was there when World War I broke out. Owen eventually enlisted...