'The Last Laugh' by Wilfred Owen: Writing ‘The Last Laugh’ (3)

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Writing ‘The Last Laugh’ (3)

This is because this was Owen’s first go at the poem (that we know of). Like all of us he would write something, then read it, and make changes. Here is a version he wrote a few weeks or months later. Look at how he we can see him crossing out things. This is much more like the poem you know now:

‘Oh! Jesus Christ! I'm hit,' he said; and died.
Whether he vainly cursed or prayed indeed,
The Bullets chirped---In vain, vain, vain!
Machine-guns chuckled---Tut-tut! Tut-tut!
And the Big Gun guffawed.’