Strange Meeting
A. Answer in one or two words
1. Who is the speaker in Strange Meeting?
Ans: Dead soldier
2. When did the speaker realise he was in hell?
Ans: On seeing the dead smile
3. What do ‘chariot wheels’ symbolize?
Ans: War machinery
4. What does the speaker discover in the underworld?
Ans: Dead enemy
B. Answer in a few words
1. What is war poetry?
Ans: Poetry that describes war experiences, suffering, and its effects on soldiers.
2. What poetic devices are used by Wilfred Owen?
Ans: Imagery, metaphor, simile, alliteration, and personification
3. Why is it called a ‘strange meeting’?
Ans: Because two enemy soldiers meet peacefully after death
4. What are ‘titanic wars’?
Ans: Large and destructive wars
5. What does ‘sleep’ signify?
Ans: Death and eternal rest
C. Answer briefly
1. Significance of the title ‘Strange Meeting’.
Ans: The title shows the unusual meeting of two dead enemies in the afterlife. It highlights the futility of war and the end of enmity after death.
2. How is the underworld described?
Ans: As a dark, silent, and gloomy place symbolizing the suffering and horror of war.
3. Significance of the last lines.
Ans: They show acceptance of death and the desire for peace. The enemy forgives the speaker, showing that war is meaningless.
4. How does the poem challenge war as heroic?
Ans: It shows war as cruel and meaningless, where soldiers suffer and die instead of becoming heroes.
D. Answer in detail
5. Central idea of Strange Meeting.
Ans: The poem presents the horror and futility of war. Two dead soldiers meet in the underworld, where one reveals that he was killed by the other. Instead of hatred, they share understanding and sorrow.
The poem shows that war destroys lives and dreams on both sides. Soldiers are not enemies but victims of war. Through this, the poet criticizes the idea of war as heroic and highlights its tragic reality.
6. How is hopelessness of war shown?
Ans: The poem shows that war destroys hopes, dreams, and beauty of life. The lines express that the speaker once had dreams and desires like any other person, but war ended them.
The contrast between the desire for beauty and the harsh reality of war shows deep loss and disappointment. The soldiers realise that their lives and hopes were wasted.
Thus, the poem strongly presents war as meaningless and full of hopelessness.