In 1911 he passed the matriculation exam for the University of London, but not with the first-class honours needed for a scholarship, which in his family's circumstances was the only way he could have afforded to attend. Owen's last two years of formal education saw him as a pupil-teacher at the Wyle Cop school in Shrewsbury. His early influences included the Bible and the Romantic poets, particularly Wordsworth and John Keats. He was raised as an Anglican of the evangelical type, and in his youth was a devout believer, in part thanks to his strong relationship with his mother, which lasted throughout his life. Owen discovered his poetic vocation in about 1904 during a holiday spent in Cheshire. Wilfred Owen was educated at the Birkenhead Institute and at Shrewsbury Technical School (later known as the Wakeman School). They then moved back to Shrewsbury in 1907. The family lived with him at three successive homes in the Tranmere district area of the town.

Thomas Owen transferred back to Birkenhead in 1898 when he became stationmaster at Woodside station. Thomas transferred to Shrewsbury in April 1897 where the family lived with Thomas' parents in Canon Street.

There Thomas Owen temporarily worked in the town employed by a railway company. When Wilfred was born, his parents lived in a comfortable house owned by his grandfather, Edward Shaw.Īfter Edward's death in January 1897, and the house's sale in March, the family lodged in the back streets of Birkenhead. He was the eldest of Thomas and (Harriett) Susan Owen (née Shaw)'s four children his siblings were Mary Millard, (William) Harold, and Colin Shaw Owen. Owen was born on 18 March 1893 at Plas Wilmot, a house in Weston Lane, near Oswestry in Shropshire. Owen was killed in action on 4 November 1918, a week before the war's end, at the age of 25. Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are 'Dulce et Decorum est', 'Insensibility', 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', 'Futility', 'Spring Offensive' and 'Strange Meeting'. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon and stood in contrast to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. WebsiteWilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. Wilfred OwenMCA plate from 1920 Poems by Wilfred Owen, depicting the poetBornWilfred Edward Salter Owen18 March 1893Oswestry, Shropshire, EnglandDied4 November 1918() (aged 25)Sambre–Oise Canal, FranceGenreWar poetryMilitary careerService/branchBritish ArmyYears of service1915–1918RankLieutenantUnitīattles/warsFirst World WarAwardsMilitary Cross

Anthem for doomed youth by wilfred owen