Ardon M Pillay

Anthem For Doomed Youth NotesFeaturesBackground

Written in Craiglockhart October 1917 By Wilfred Owen, a soldier who had joined the war to preserve the works

of Shakespeare and Yeats, but was awakened to the true, horrific nature of war.

Had originally had dead instead of doom, changed it to create greater sense of helplessness as it seemed that the youth’s fate was sealed

Title is ironic because a country’s purpose is to ensure the sustainability of its population, the idea that the death of its countrymen fuels its war effort has a counterintuitive effect

Published posthumously, people who lost family and friends in the war read it, but it drew criticism from others who said the poems failed to discuss other aspects of war like camaraderie and acts of bravery.

Purpose: Owen wanted to depict the true nature of warfare

Themes: Inhumanity and horror of war, Death

Title: “anthem,” is used ironically as well, because an anthem expresses unity (soldiers will all die) and functions as a celebratory and happy hymn, whereas in this case, it is bitterly sarcastic since there is a large amount of grief being conveyed in the poem

Tone: grief-stricken

Structure Written as a Petrarchan sonnet, a form of poetry usually centred on love

but this is used to illustrate how love for one’s country could lead to death, like in the case of the soldiers

Audience The general public at the time, as well as those with strong anti-war

sentiments This is shown through the use of Owens poetry in the 1960s in anti war

movements in the USA

Thesis Statements1. How does Owen show his disheartenment with the Church of England and

the government2. How does Owen graphically depict the suffering of soldiers on a chaotic

battlefield

Ardon M Pillay

Line by Line Analysis

START OF OCTET

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? “passing bells,” – religious imagery to allude to funeral bells –

implying that the soldiers are dead. “these,” – diction: (shows how the gov treated soldiers badly)

This diction is used to create detachment between reader and soldiers to represent how government thought of them as

commodities, as “these,” is a demonstrative pronoun. These was chosen by Owen instead of those because it the word these connotes unity between the soldiers – awakens audience to the

sinister side of the government. “as cattle,” – simile to represent how the soldiers are dying in

herds (cows are found in herds), expressing how many of them have died (undignified slaughter). It also compares their

treatment (like the lack of a funeral) to the treatment of cows, expressing the extent to which they have been dehumanised

The rhetorical question provokes reader thought, making readers question why the soldiers are not given funerals –

shock the readers to the realities of war and how the soldiers’ deaths are taken.

       Only the monstrous anger of the guns. “Only,” – indicates a lack of bells, making the rhetorical question a hyperphora, and showing that the only honour a

soldier receives when he dies is the “monstrous anger of the guns.”

“monstrous anger of the guns.” – personification expresses the chaos and pandemonium of the soldiers’ deaths – juxtaposed to

the peaceful deaths that people think they deserve and the contents of the first line.

      Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle “stuttering rifle,” – personification to add to the sense of chaos

and express the rage of the person holding the rattle, as stuttering is something people do when they are infuriated,

hence the expression, “stuttered with rage,” – sense of chaos created and this is juxtaposed to the peaceful deaths that people think they deserve and the contents of the first line

“rifle’s rapid rattle,” – alliteration emphasises the stuttering previously mentioned and reinforces the rage of the enemy – sense of chaos– juxtaposed to the peaceful deaths that people

think they deserve and the contents of the first line. Additionally, the phonetics also convey the sound of a gun

firing, adding to the chaotic situation

Ardon M Pillay

Can patter out their hasty orisons. “patter,” – onomatopoeia that sounds like gun firing, the

allusion to guns firing last throughout 3 lines, this could show that on the battlefield, the sound of guns is ubiquitous

“hasty orisons,” –how little the church cared about doing funerals, Diction: hasty means rushed, connotes a lack of care, shows how little effort went into the last rites of the men as metaphorically represented through the word orisons, which is an archaic term for prayers. Expressing his disheartenment with the church to the public, while reinforcing the theme of death.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;  “No mockeries…no prayers or bells.” – parallelism: the

mockeries are the prayers and bells, this parallel is reinforced by the repetition of the word no before each of the words.

Owen is saying that the funerals performed glorify their deaths, since they die like cattle. This is also an extension of Owen’s

own negative view of the church for aiding the government in performing the shoddy funerals that are not fit for honourable

soldiers and also for persuading men to go to war, as the churches preached pro war propaganda.

Diction: use of ,”nor,” and ,”no,” in the same line create a sense of depravation, highlight how the soldiers have a lack of

amenities and essentials on the battlefield, increase pity for soldiers

      Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— Offers some evidence of sympathy for soldiers (choirs) after

saying that ,”nor any voice of mourning.” This is juxtaposition because Owen is initially saying no one morns the soldiers but

it contrast the fact that choirs sing for themThe shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; The positive note is crushed now due to negative imagery

“shrill,” –diction: sound a bomb makes as it falls (this continues Owen’s description of how soldiers suffer), also associated with

the sound of a witch (supernatural imagery) Personification: idea of a choir (peaceful, serene) juxtaposed to

the adjective used (demented) mocking the divinity and peace that is presented by the Church. It also alludes to evil

banshees, violent creatures. This enhances the juxtaposition – continued criticism of Church by Owen, expressing how

ominous the church was as an entity to the public. “wailing shells,” 2 interpretations

o Wailing is diction used to refer to spirits of the dead, emphasising the loss of life that war brings

o Wailing is also the sound shells make when they fall, so this is personification that shows that the natural

resources used to make the bomb do not want to be used

Ardon M Pillay

for destruction, humans have forced them (hence furthering the war)

      And bugles calling for them from sad shires. “bugles,” – diction: a tool used to call men for war (could be a

metaphor for propaganda) but ambiguous because it is also used at funerals. Instrument used to send them to war is used

when they inevitably die “sad shires,” – alliteration to emphasise how the shires are

very sure that their men will die in the war or sad that their men have died, solemn tone created.

START OF SESTET

What candles may be held to speed them all? Synecdoche in candles, funeral imagery to represent death Rhetorical question implies that no candles are used to send

them into the afterlife, no proper funeral      Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

“boys,” – diction: shows how young the soldiers are and how innocent they are (denonation) – increase the tragedy of their

deaths. “in their eyes,” – implies tears, shows that tears are more

genuine expressions of grief than the superficial funerals(“hands of boys,” – religious imagery related to funeral because altar boys carry candles to the casket during funeral)

hands denote acts of helpfulness as that is a common use of them, ironic because in war, the hands were used to operate

war machines that slaughtered menShall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. “holy glimmers of goodbye,” – (conveys their suffering) euphemism for suffering of soldiers before they die, showing how the soldiers died without honour, because the glimmers

form when people are about to cry, hence explaining that they were crying before they died. You only cry if you’re really

suffering emotionally, reiterating the theme of suffering and therefore increasing the audience’s sympathy for the men

“glimmers,” could be used sarcastically to say that the last thing they saw was the horrors of war – lack of a noble death

      The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Pall used as a metaphor for the faces of girls, describe the extent to which they were pale, showing the sadness and grief

they felt This shows the suffering at home as well, by the women who

watched their husbands, brothers and fathers go off to war.

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Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, “flowers,” Diction: reinforces existing funeral imagery to

highlight sense of tragedy “tenderness of patient minds,” – patient is used to describe

those who waited for their men to return (because news of death arrived 3 weeks after death), and it reinforces the idea of the phrase; that there was genuine mourning. The tenderness expresses the love of these people for their family who are at

war

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. Brilliant use of dusk as diction here.. Dusk refers to the time

period during which soldiers could relax and rest. It is also the last part of the day and this could parallel how the soldiers’

lives are ending and in their end, the soldiers can finally be at peace. This punctuates the theme of death and adds to the

morose tone of the extract. “drawing-down of blinds.” – allusion: practise when one’s

family member died, home had blinds drawn to honoyr the dead. In villages, it was common to see lots of blinds up. This

adds to the morose tone of the last line by showing how at dusk, more blinds are drawn, i.e more dead soldiers.

Thoughts: Best Owen poetry of the lot due to the use of diction that have such varied connotations that can be ambiguous at times.