Disabled (poem)

"Disabled" is a war poem by Wilfred Owen written in 1917. It expresses the tormented thoughts and recollections of a teenaged soldier in World War I who has lost his limbs in battle and is now confined, utterly helpless, to a wheelchair. The subject contrasts the living death he is now facing with the youthful pleasures he had enjoyed "before he threw away his knees"; he goes on to recall the impetuous and frivolous circumstances in which he had joined up to fight in the war. He also notes how the crowds that greeted his return were smaller and less enthusiastic than those who cheered his departure, and how women no longer look at him but at "the strong men who were whole".