anthem for doomed youth wilfred owen analysis

Anthem for Doomed Youth Summary & Analysis by Wilfred Owen

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" was written by British poet Wilfred Owen in 1917, while Owen was in the hospital recovering from injuries and trauma resulting from his military service during World War I. The poem laments the loss of young life in war and describes the sensory horrors of combat. It takes particular issue with the official pomp and ceremony that surrounds war (gestured to by the word "Anthem" in the title), arguing that church bells, prayers, and choirs are inadequate tributes to the realities of war. It is perhaps Owen's second most famous poem, after " Dulce et Decorum Est ."

• Read the full text of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

The Full Text of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

1 What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

2       — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

3       Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

4 Can patter out their hasty orisons.

5 No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 

6       Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

7 The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

8       And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

9 What candles may be held to speed them all?

10       Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

11 Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

12       The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

13 Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

14 And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” Summary

“anthem for doomed youth” themes.

Nationalism, War, and Waste

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Ritual and Remembrance

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “anthem for doomed youth”.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

      — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.       Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;        Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

      And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?       Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.       The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Lines 13-14

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

End-Stopped Line

Personification, rhetorical question, “anthem for doomed youth” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Passing-bells
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Rhyme scheme, “anthem for doomed youth” speaker, “anthem for doomed youth” setting, literary and historical context of “anthem for doomed youth”, more “anthem for doomed youth” resources, external resources.

Poems in Response to Owen — A BBC show in which three contemporary poets respond to Wilfred Owen's poetry.

Learn More About War Poetry — A series of podcast documentaries from the University of Oxford about various aspects of World War I poetry, including some excellent material specifically about Wilfred Owen. 

More Poems and Biography — A valuable resource of Owen's other poetry, and a look at his life.

A Reading by Stephen Fry — Internationally famous actor, comedian,and writer Stephen Fry reads the poem (with a bugle call in the background). 

Bringing WWI to Life — In this clip, director Peter Jackson discusses his recent WWIfilm, They Shall Not Grow Old. Though technology, Jackson brings old war footage to vivid life, restoring a sense of the soldiers as actual people. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum Est

Mental Cases

Spring Offensive

Strange Meeting

The Next War

Everything you need for every book you read.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

by Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? — Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Summary of Anthem for Doomed Youth:

• Popularity of “Anthem for Doomed Youth” : Wilfred Owen, a well-known British poet wrote this poem . It is one of the tragic sonnets also known as a funeral dedication for soldiers in the First World War. It was first published in 1917. The poem speaks about the death of soldiers either in the Battle of Somme or Passchendaele. It explains how the soldiers die helplessly on the battlefield. They do not have anyone to give them proper burial after their sacrifice. One of the notable aspects of the poem is the poet’s rejection of God and religion after seeing suffering around him.
• “Anthem for Doomed Youth” As a Representative of Death: The poem presents the speaker ’s sadness and agony on the loss of lives during the war. The poem begins with the awful deaths of the soldiers. The poet sadly states nobody rings the bells for those who die like cattle on the battlefield. They never receive any formal ceremonies to honor their death. Instead, both sides of soldiers receive anger of the guns and rifles. Although they fight tirelessly, they get no mourning sounds and cremation. They are brutally shot and killed. The poet expresses his agony as he recalls that nobody lights up the candles for their memorial. Only girls with their pale faces who could be their mother, girlfriend, or close kin put flowers.
• Major Themes in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”: Horrors of war, death, and suffering are the major themes of this poem. The poet paints a realistic picture of the battleground. The readers must realize how soldiers sacrifice their lives to defend their country, but the civilians honor their deaths. They are killed like animals during the wars. Usually, at funerals for the dead , the bells ring, and prayers are offered. However, the soldiers do not have that privilege. Instead of bells and prayers, sounds of guns, fires, and shells are heard after their death. Their families can only cry on the news of their death.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

literary devices are tools used by writers and poets to convey their emotions, feelings, and ideas to the readers. Wilfred Owen has also employed some literary devices in this poem to express his ideas. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been given below.

• Assonance : Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /o/ in “No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells” and “Only the monstrous anger of the guns.”
• Consonance : Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /l/ in “The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells.”
• Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sound of /r/ in “Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle”; the sound of /d/ “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” and the sound of /g/ in “Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes”.
• Enjambment : It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break ; instead, it continues to the next line. For example,

 “Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.”

• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle”; “Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes” and “Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.”
• Rhetorical Question : Rhetorical question is a statement said or asked to make the point clear without expecting any answers. For example, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” and “What candles may be held to speed them all?”
• Simile : It is a figure of speech used to compare an object or a person with something else to make the meanings clear . There is one simile used in the opening lines of this poem. For example, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle.” Here, the poet compares dead soldiers to cattle.
• Personification : Personification is to give human qualities to non-living objects. For example, guns are personified in the second line of the poem, “only the monstrous anger of the guns,” as if the guns are humans that can express anger.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

• Sonnet : A sonnet is a fourteen lined poem. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is a Petrarchan sonnet made up of one octave and one sestet .
• Rhyme Scheme : The rhyme scheme followed by the poem is ABAB CDCD EFFE GG.
• End Rhyme : End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. For example, “cattle/rattle”, “all/pall” and “minds/blinds.”

Quotes to be Used

The lines can be used to express sadness and anger who die an unnatural death or become a victim of terrorism.

“What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.”

Related posts:

• Dulce et Decorum Est
• Insensibility
• Arms and the Boy
• My Last Duchess
• Ode to a Nightingale
• A Red, Red Rose
• The Road Not Taken
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
• Death, Be Not Proud
• “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers
• I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
• I Carry Your Heart with Me
• The Second Coming
• Ode on a Grecian Urn
• A Visit from St. Nicholas
• The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
• A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
• God’s Grandeur
• A Psalm of Life
• To His Coy Mistress
• Ode to the West Wind
• Miniver Cheevy
• The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
• Not Waving but Drowning
• Thanatopsis
• Home Burial
• Nothing Gold Can Stay
• In the Bleak Midwinter
• The Chimney Sweeper
• Still I Rise
• See It Through
• The Emperor of Ice-Cream
• Success is Counted Sweetest
• Lady Lazarus
• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• On Being Brought from Africa to America
• Jack and Jill
• Much Madness is Divinest Sense
• Little Boy Blue
• On the Pulse of Morning
• Theme for English B
• There was a Crooked Man
• Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• The Solitary Reaper
• Song of Myself
• A Bird, Came Down the Walk
• To My Mother
• Blackberry-Picking
• Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church
• We Are Seven
• Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
• A Narrow Fellow in the Grass
• Sonnet 55: Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments
• Beat! Beat! Drums!
• To a Skylark
• Buffalo Bill’s
• A Wolf Is at the Laundromat
• The Children’s Hour
• The Barefoot Boy
• New Year’s Day
• The Death of the Hired Man
• An Essay on Man: Epistle I
• She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
• This Is Just To Say
• To — — –. Ulalume: A Ballad
• Who Has Seen the Wind?
• The Landlord’s Tale. Paul Revere’s Ride
• The Chambered Nautilus
• The Wild Swans at Coole
• The Hunting of the Snark

Post navigation

Anthem for Doomed Youth

18 pages • 36 minutes read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Poem Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Discussion Questions

Analysis: “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

An anthem is a song or hymn of praise. The appearance of the word in the title of this poem is ironic. The subjects of the poem—the “youth”—are “doomed” to die. There is nothing to praise or celebrate in this antiwar poem, which rejects religious and patriotic sentiment that would support and glorify the war. The poem can also be understood as a lament (an expression of grief) or an elegy (a mourning of the dead).

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum est

Wilfred Owen

Greater Love

Featured Collections

Memorial Day Reads

View Collection

Military Reads

Required Reading Lists

Wilfred Owen: Poems

By wilfred owen, wilfred owen: poems summary and analysis of "anthem for doomed youth".

The speaker says there are no bells for those who die "like cattle" – all they get is the "monstrous anger of the guns". They have only the ragged sounds of the rifle as their prayers. They get no mockeries, no bells, no mourning voices except for the choir of the crazed "wailing shells" and the sad bugles calling from their home counties.

There are no candles held by the young men to help their passing, only the shimmering in their eyes to say goodbye. The pale faces of the girls will be what cover their coffins, patient minds will act as flowers, and the "slow dusk" will be the drawing of the shades.

This searing poem is one of Owen's most critically acclaimed. It was written in the fall of 1917 and published posthumously in 1920. It may be a response to the anonymous preface from Poems of Today (1916), which proclaims that boys and girls should know about the poetry of their time, which has many different themes that "mingle and interpenetrate throughout, to the music of Pan's flute, and of Love's viol, and the bugle-call of Endeavor, and the passing-bells of death."

The poem owes its more mature imagery and message to Owen's introduction to another WWI poet, Siegfried Sassoon, while he was convalescing in Edinburgh's Craiglockhart Hospital in August 1917. Sassoon was older and more cynical, and the meeting was a significant turning point for Owen. The poem is structured as a Petrarchan sonnet with a Shakespearean rhyme scheme and is an elegy or lament for the dead. Owen's meter is mostly iambic pentameter with some small derivations that keep the reader on his or her toes as they read. The meter reinforces the juxtapositions in the poem and the sense of instability caused by war and death.

Owen begins with a bitter tone as he asks rhetorically what "passing-bells" of mourning will sound for those soldiers who die like cattle in an undignified mass. They are not granted the rituals and rites of good Christian civilians back home. They do not get real prayers, only rifle fire. Their only "choirs" are of shells and bugles. This first set of imagery is violent, featuring weapons and harsh noises of war. It is set in contrast to images of the church; Owen is suggesting organized religion cannot offer much consolation to those dying on the front. Kenneth Simcox writes, "These religious images...symbolize the sanctity of life – and death – while suggesting also the inadequacy, the futility, even meaninglessness, of organized religion measured against such a cataclysm as war. To 'patter out' is to intone mindlessly, an irrelevance. 'Hasty' orisons are an irreverence. Prayers, bells, mockeries only."

In the second stanza the poem slows down and becomes more dolorous, less enraged. The poet muses that the young men will not have candles – the only light they will get will be the reflections in their fellow soldiers' eyes. They must have substitutions for their coffin covers ("palls"), their flowers, and their "slow dusk". The poem has a note of finality, of lingering sadness and an inability to avoid the reality of death and grief.

The critic Jon Silkin notes that, while the poem seems relatively straightforward, there is some ambiguity: "Owen seems to be caught in the very act of consolatory mourning he condemns...a consolation that permits the war's continuation by civilian assent, and is found ambiguously in the last line of the octet." Owen might be trying to make the case that his poetry is a more realistic form of the expression of grief and the rituals of mourning.

Wilfred Owen: Poems Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Wilfred Owen: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How could we interpret the symbol of ‘fruits’?​

Poem title, please?

What are the similarities between the poems Next War and Dulce et Decorum est? for example how grief is portrayed through both is almost the same fashion

I'm not sure what you mean by "next war".

Experience of war in Dulce Et Decorum Est

"Dulce et Decorum est" is without a doubt one of, if not the most, memorable and anthologized poems in Owen's oeuvre. Its vibrant imagery and searing tone make it an unforgettable excoriation of WWI, and it has found its way into both literature...

Study Guide for Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems study guide contains a biography of Wilfred Owen, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of Wilfred Owen's major poems.

• About Wilfred Owen: Poems
• Wilfred Owen: Poems Summary
• Character List

Essays for Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Wilfred Owen's poetry.

• “Fellowships Untold”: The Role of Wilfred Owen’s Poetry in Understanding Comradeship During World War I
• Analysis of Owen's "Strange Meeting"
• The Development of Modernism as Seen through World War I Poetry and "The Prussian Officer"
• Commentary on the Poem “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen
• Commentary on the Poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen

E-Text of Wilfred Owen: Poems

Wilfred Owen: Poems e-text contains the full texts of select poems by Wilfred Owen.

• Introduction by Siegfried Sassoon
• Strange Meeting
• Greater Love
• Apologia pro Poemeta Mio

Wikipedia Entries for Wilfred Owen: Poems

• Introduction
• War service

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen is a strikingly honest reflection on the inadequate rituals used in England to remember those who died at war. Owen’s personal experiences drive the negative tone, creating a haunting tone for the reader.

This study guide is useful for students and teachers of war poetry, Wilfred Owen, and in particular, students of CCEA’s GCSE English Literature conflict anthology for the Unit 2 Drama and Poetry exam  and OCR’s GCSE Conflict Anthology . At the end of this article, you will find links to other study guides in the anthology.

You will also find a multiple-choice quiz, comprehension questions, and links for comparison with other poems in the conflict anthology. I hope its helpful in preparing for your exam!

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Context for 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'

Wilfred owen's life and career.

Wilfred Owen, born in 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire, was a prominent British poet renowned for his poignant and brutally cynical responses to World War One. Owen was educated at the Birkenhead Institute (1900-1907), then Shrewsbury Technical School (1907-1911). After school, Owen worked (unpaid) for the Church of England as a lay preacher and also served the community. During the two years that followed, Owen became increasingly aware of the social deprivation around him, and the weak response of the church. He had been interested in joining the church as a career, but this desire weakened the more time he spent there. In his spare time, he read and wrote poetry, and was particularly inspired by the Romantic poets.

In 1913, after a time spent at home with his parents due to an infection, Owen moved to France. He spent one year teaching in Bordeaux at the Berlitz School of Languages, and then another year as an au pair for a French family, teaching the children. During this time in France, war broke out across Europe, and Owen felt duty-bound to return home to enlist.

Wilfred Owen and World War One

Enlisting in the Artist’s Rifles in 1915, Owen experienced the harsh realities of trench warfare on the Western Front. The brutality of war profoundly impacted his perspective, leading to the creation of powerful poems like “Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Dulce et Decorum Est.”

In 1917, a gas attack left Owen hospitalised. He was sent back to Britain to recover at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. At Craiglockhart, he met another patient, Siegfried Sassoon. The two soldiers and fellow poets formed a meaningful friendship, with Sassoon encouraging Owen’s poetry and suggesting edits.  After many months in hospital, and despite suffering from the physical and mental strains of ‘shell shock’, now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Owen returned to the frontlines in 1918.

Tragically, Owen’s life was cut short at 25, just one week before the Armistice, marking the war’s end. Posthumously, fellow poet and close friend Siegfried Sassoon, along with Edith Sitwell, ensured the publication of Owen’s works, solidifying his legacy as a renowned war poet. You can read more about Sassoon’s impact on Owen’s poetry in this  BBC article ‘How a hospital meeting inspired Wilfred Owen’s WW1 poetry’.

Summary of 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'

Stanza 1 summary:.

In the first stanza, the speaker asks what rituals and remembrances are suitable and adequate to honour those who die at war. He contrasts the controlled, careful traditions of home funerals, such as ringing church bells, having a choir sing and lighting a candle, with the horrifying sounds of war. He calls such remembrances ‘mockeries’ and finishes the stanza with the haunting echo of a bugle being sounded across the countryside.

Stanza 2 summary:

Stanza two continues with much the same tone of bitterness and anger at the empty shows of grief. The speaker moves on to suggest alternatives to such empty rituals, such as simply looking into the eyes of a dying soldier, or the look of grief on a girl who has lost someone, or simply by pulling down the blind on a window at the end of each day. In other words, funeral rituals are empty, but those remembered live on in the individual emotions and routines of those who are left behind.

What is the message of 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'?

Owen communicates that war is hellish, futile and a waste of life. In addition, the church and state have sent these men to die, and then mock them with empty, meaningless shows of grief that do not truly value to horrors of war or the sacrifice of the men. It is a challenge to the reader not to romanticise war.

Line by line analysis

The title itself, “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” is ironic. An anthem is typically a celebratory or uplifting song, but here it is applied to commemorate the doomed fate of young soldiers. The choice of the adjective ‘doomed’ is very clear: not only are these soldiers doomed to die, but there is a sense of an active agent sending them to their doom: they have been doomed. The poem suggests that the establishment of church and state are responsible for this, through mentions of choirs, bells and prayers, and the mention of a pall (a flag to cover a coffin), it seems clear that Owen blames church and government for sending these young men to their deaths.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

• The poem opens with a  question , engaging the reader in his hugely emotive topic. 
• Passing-bells are those rung in a town to village to announce a death (think about how people communicated before TV/radio/social media announcements!)
• The simile ‘these who die as cattle’ intentionally dehumanises the soldiers for impact. Owen forces the reader to confront the uncomfortable truth that the young men have been slaughted en masse in grim circumstances, very far from home. Their situation is as far removed from the restrained bells or church choirs of countryside funerals in England.
• In this opening stanza, the rhythm of the poem is introduced: as with all traditional sonnets , there is iambic pentameter . This means that the lines have five metric feet (pairs of syllables) and five stressed syllables . The stresses fall second in the pair. (See below: the bold syllables are stressed). Notice that in this first line, there is an extra 11th syllable at the end of the line. This unstressed syllable adds a falling rhythm and a downbeat, adding to the negative tone and the sense of the meaninglessness of war.

                                     What pass /ing bells / for these / who die / as catt /le?

— Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

• An  answer is given to the question asked in line one: what bells ring for those who die? No bells ring. The sound of guns drowns out any respectful silence or sounds. 
• The use of the adjective ‘monstrous’ makes the speaker’s attitude very clear, that war is horrific and cruel. The adjective adds human or animalistic characteristics to the guns, personifying the guns and making the soldiers seem more vulnerable to the guns.
• In addition, the abstract noun ‘anger’ supports the previous adjective , heightening the personification of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

• Anaphora is used in the repetition of ‘Only’ on these consecutive lines, emphasising the negativity of what there is (as opposed to what there is not i.e. choirs, candles, bells, etc). Anaphora builds pace here, with one line picking up, echoing and adding to the previous line.
• The speaker’s use of repeated ‘s’ sounds in stuttering and rifles’, and the alliteration of the ‘r’ sound in rifles’ rapid rattle creates a strong aural effect , mimicking the relentless sound of the guns.
• Enjambment is used at the end of this line. The lack of pause increases the sense of the bombardment of gunfire.

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

• An orison is a prayer
• The verb ‘patter’ suggests the constant chatter of conversation. The speaker implies that the quick prayers of soldiers as they die are meaningless and not heard. This bleak interpretation supports the poem’s message that church rituals are empty, and reflect the speaker’s anger at the church and state for sending these men to die.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

• Repeated ‘n’ sounds emphasise the negative vocabulary used (no/now/no/nor)
• Caesura is used in this line. The semi-colon creates a pause, drawing attention to the first word in the second clause, ‘no’. This heightens the negativity of the word ‘no’.
• The speaker leaves no doubt for the reader as to their point of view in the phrase ‘No mockeries now’. In other words, the mockeries of home (bells, candles, choirs, etc) are not present now on the battlefield. The speaker’s focus on the rituals of death at home centres around the church and state: choirs, church bells, palls – these are all symbols of the establishment. The speaker blames the establishment for the cruel deaths of these young men.

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

• Anaphora used here in the repetition of ‘nor’ from the previous line.
• At the end of this line, the hyphen creates a pause and we wonder if the speaker has changed his mind. Perhaps a choir’s singing could soothe appropriately. But in the next line, this is modified for clarity: not the choirs of churches, but the choirs of wailing shells.

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

• Repetition of the word ‘choirs’ from the previous line emphasises a shadow of similarity, but this time the choir is not a sound of beauty in a church, but the shells on the battlefield.
• The adjectives ‘shrill, demented’ tell of the unrelenting and mercilessness of the battlefield.
• The personification of shells as ‘wailing’ as if they too are miserable, adds to the auditory imagery here, and intensifies the anger shown by the speaker.

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

• A bugle is a small brass instrument used in war to recruit new soldiers in towns and cities. It looks like a horn or a trumpet and you may have heard it played during Remembrance services for the Last Post.
• Sibilance and consonance are used on the last two lines of this stanza in shrill/choirs/shells/bugles/sad/shires. The sound of the repeated ‘s’ adds to the sound of the shells and the melancholy echo around the shires.
• As in most sonnets , there is a volta here; a shift in mood, or an answer provided in the sestet to the question raised in the octave .

What candles may be held to speed them all?

• Like stanza one, stanza two opens with a question : does lighting a candle help to speed up the dying process and the journey to the afterlife for these men? The speaker questions the meaning of the rituals performed at home.
• Often the sestet opens with an answer to the question asked by the octave . Instead, this sestet opens with another question, suggesting that there are no answers to the questions raised by these lines. There are no suitable ways to remember the dead that carry enough meaning to make their sacrifice worthwhile, in the opinion of the speaker.
• In stanza two, the focus moves away from the battlefields of stanza one and back to the ‘shires’ of Britain, where families and communities figure out how to remember their loved ones. The sound of the guns is gone, and stanza two offers a quieter, more reflective tone.

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

• Enjambment is used to help connect the rhyme of ‘eyes’ and ‘goodbyes’, emphasised by the proximity of the rhyming sounds. 

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

• Owen creates more sound effects in this line, with the sibilance of ‘shall shine’ and the alliteration of ‘glimmers of goodbyes’. These sounds are softer than the alliteration used in the gunfire of stanza one. Here, they emphasise the melancholic tone of remembrance.
• For the first time, a positive adjective , ‘holy’, is used for the looks in men’s eyes when saying their goodbyes. In other words, the personal goodbyes carry more meaning than state-led funerals can offer.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

• Pallor means a paleness due to grief or sadness.
• Pall is a sheet which covers a coffin in a funeral service.
• A play on words is used with pallor and pall: both words link to the theme of death and grief, and they are linked through the alliteration of the ‘p’ sound.

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

• In this line, ‘patient’ can have two relevant meanings . Firstly, a patient mind is a quiet, reflective mind appropriate for such a sombre moment at the remembrance of the dead. Secondly, ‘patient’ could refer to those injured, hospitalised soldiers, especially those with shell shock like Owen, who spent time recuperating in hospital. These patient minds would be tender, as the line says, and reflect Owen’s own experiences.

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

• The poem ends with a rhyming couplet , giving a decisive end to the reflection.
• The imagery of death , in ‘drawing-down of blinds’ reminds us of the closing or death of each day. Owen suggests that the simple acts carried out by people each day are a more fitting tribute to the dead than funeral rituals. 
• In closing the blinds one day, they must logically be opened again the next day. In this line, Owen suggests that the cycle of life continues and that this also is a suitable remembrance: those who live on will do so because of the sacrifice of those who did not live on. The cycle of life has been bought at a very high price.

Form and Structure Analysis

Sonnet structure.

This poem has 14 lines, a regular rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter: it is a sonnet.

Owen uses the opening octave to raise a question: what bells are rung and what rituals are performed for the men who died on the battlefields of Europe? After the volta, we hope to find some answers to this question, but instead, we are greeted with another question: what candles exist that can help a dying man? The speaker does give an answer, although not perhaps an obvious one. In the sestet, we are told that the only way to rightly remember these men is in a look, or a demeanour, or in pulling your curtains at night time i.e. in every thought and on every day, these men should be remembered.

Owen combines elements of a Shakespearean (English) and a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet in Anthem for Doomed Youth. Perhaps this is to reflect the fact that English shires, towns, and villages all send these young men over to Europe to fight.

One difference between Anthem for Doomed Youth and a more traditional sonnet is that Anthem for Doomed Youth is split at the volta into two stanzas: an octave and a sestet. Traditional sonnets have all 14 lines in one verse. Why? Perhaps to reflect the fractured and broken world that sends young men to die on battlefields. Perhaps to reflect Owen’s anger at the establishment. Or perhaps to create a pause to allow room for reflection on better ways to remember the dead.

The rhythm in Anthem for Doomed Youth is iambic pentameter , as is traditional for a sonnet . This means that each line (usually) contains ten syllables arranged in five pairs (or feet) , where the first syllable in the pair is unstressed, and the second syllable in each pair is stressed. For example: ‘What can /dles may / be held / to speed / them all ?’

In some cases, Owen varies the rhythm for a purpose. In line one, there is an extra syllable, perhaps to unsettle the reader and to add to the negative tone. In some lines, the order of stressed and unstressed syllables is switched. In these cases, it creates a trochee rather than an iamb (in other words, the order is stressed then unstressed, rather than unstressed then stressed). We see this in line two: ‘ On ly/ the mon /strous an /ger of / the guns ‘. You can see that the first pair of syllables is a trochee, followed by four iambs. This small change in rhythm draws our attention to the first word ‘Only’, highlighting the negativity of the sound of dead on the battlefield.

The rhyme scheme of Anthem for Doomed Youth follows this pattern: ABABCDCD EFFEGG. In other words, the octave has two quatrains of alternate rhyme, and the sestet has one quatrain of enclosed rhyme followed by a rhyming couplet. This rhyme scheme is a variation on the Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme which has three quatrains and a couplet. You can see the various patterns of sonnets in the infographic above.

Themes in 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'

The horrors of war:.

Owen vividly describes the brutal and dehumanising aspects of war. He focuses on the devastating effects of violence and the inhumane conditions in which soldiers lived and died.

Loss, grief and remembrance:

The poem conveys a deep sense of loss and grief, not only for the soldiers who died on the battlefield but also for the loved ones left behind. The traditional rituals of mourning are contrasted with the chaotic and undignified deaths of the soldiers. There are references to religious rituals and symbols throughout the poem. Owen uses these to highlight the senseless sacrifice of young lives and to question the existence of a benevolent deity in the face of such suffering, with religious imagery recurring throughout the poem.

Futility of War:

Owen questions the purpose and value of war. He suggests that the sacrifices made by young soldiers are ultimately futile and that the glorification of war is misguided.

Quiz on ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’

Test your knowledge of the poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owen.

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Your Answers

Comprehension Questions:

• How does Wilfred Owen use imagery to convey the theme of the futility of war in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’?
• Discuss the significance of the title ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ in relation to the content and tone of the poem.
• How does Owen use sound devices such as alliteration and onomatopoeia to enhance the poem’s message?
• Explore the contrast between the peaceful imagery of traditional funeral rites and the harsh reality of war as depicted in the poem.
• Analyse the use of religious imagery and language in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth.’ How does Owen employ this imagery to critique the notion of a just or divine war?
• Discuss the role of the sonnet form in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth.’ How does Owen subvert traditional sonnet conventions to convey his anti-war message?
• How does Owen depict the impact of war on young soldiers and their families in the poem?
• Discuss the significance of the poem’s closing lines: ‘And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.’ What does this imagery suggest about the lasting effects of war on society?
• How does ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ reflect Wilfred Owen’s own experiences as a soldier in World War I?
• What poem from your anthology would you choose to compare with ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’?

Poems to pair with 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'

Vitaï lampada by henry newbolt.

These poems provide opposite opinions, and so provide great opportunities for contrasts and analysis. Newbolt’s poem glorifies the sacrifice, romanticising the death of soldiers in achieving a greater good. Owen’s poem presents a completely contrasting point of view. The poems have plenty of imagery and language devices to compare and contrast. 

The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

As above, this poem provides a complete contrast to Owen’s point of view. Where Owen sees war as futile, cruel and horrifying, Tennyson sees war as glorious and worthwhile. There is plenty to compare in terms of the auditory imagery used in both poems, and in their use of structure to reflect meaning. 

Other ThinkLit study guides in the CCEA Conflict Anthology:

• National Poetry Month
• Materials for Teachers
• Literary Seminars
• American Poets Magazine

Main navigation

• Academy of American Poets

User account menu

Find and share the perfect poems.

Page submenu block

• literary seminars
• materials for teachers
• poetry near you

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Add to anthology.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

This poem is in the public domain.

More by this poet

Dulce et decorum est.

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Winter Song

The browns, the olives, and the yellows died, And were swept up to heaven; where they glowed Each dawn and set of sun till Christmastide, And when the land lay pale for them, pale-snowed, Fell back, and down the snow-drifts flamed and flowed.

The Unreturning

Newsletter sign up.

• Academy of American Poets Newsletter
• Academy of American Poets Educator Newsletter
• Teach This Poem

• Solved Answers
• CBSE Prose XII
• Anglo Saxon Literature
• Pablo Neruda
• Rudyard Kipling
• Maya Angelou
• Matthew Arnold
• William Blake
• William Butler Yeats
• William Shakespeare
• William Wordsworth
• Rabindra Nath Tagore
• Robert Browning
• Robert Frost
• Indonesian High School Poems
• Indonesian University Poems

Anthem for Doomed Youth Analysis by Wilfred Owen

Youth is a curse when you have to go to war. Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen talks about sons, husbands and fathers who have fallen prey to the vagaries of war. The term “Anthem” rings a bell and calls out different meanings which plays and ploys with the minds of the readers. The fact that Wilfred Owen has seen the war from close quarters during World War I is well depicted throughout out the summary of Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen . The poem deals with the idea of the death of a soldier and how the sad news reaches his family. An “Anthem’ is a song to arouse a movement, or to make a beginning of something extraordinary that stands tall and strong for over years. However, in a poetic alternative, Wilfred Owen pens down the horrific picture of the battle which makes it the idea of Anthem for doomed youth .

Wilfred Owen was himself a part of World War I and had witnessed how young people fall prey to death without knowing the reason for which they had been fighting. “”Passing-bells” refers to the toll of the bell when a soldier dies and his soul moves out of his body. The passing bells also ring the beginning of a funeral ceremony when the soldier’s dead body is laid to rest. The “Anger of guns” is a fine instance of personification that attributes human qualities to reckon with an object of force; a killing device. In other words, the soldiers die without getting to hear the bells of heaven as the sound of the guns are too loud. Moreover, they don’t die a silent death. They die from bullets or bombs in the war field where they are surrounded by other rotten corpses. The guns decide the fates of the soldiers and create”demented choirs” as there are plenty of guns roaring and firing at the same time. The idea of Anthem for doomed youth is to portray the horrific face of the war where people take each other’s lives without getting to know the real reason and in the process they get killed themselves and the story of their life ends in a flash. The lives lost could have been joyous and fruitful if not for war, but the hungry demon wants them all and leaves no one to escape.

The poet talks about “Shires” which are English countries and he talks about “bugles” that are generally used to pass on orders to soldiers. However, the “sad shires” personifies death as it is devoid of any human feelings or emotion. Line by line explanation of Anthem for doomed youth reveals how Wilfred Owen has tried to pen picture the catastrophe in a strangely beautiful fashion that finds its relevance in a battlefield, where religion loses its meaning of peace and love and guns rules the roost. Even after the soldiers die and their bodies are laid to rest, the poet feels that it is useless to bury them with all rights as they were originally trained to kill and have behaved as expected. The poem reveals how the soldiers are doomed to sorrow, no matter what; dead or alive. They tend to forget the sounds of their loved ones as they are more used to the sounds of blazing guns and bugles. The fellow soldiers who carried the death news to the family of the dead, often stood silent on the doorsteps and the very moment was enough to make them understand what has happened. The “pallor”or the cloth that is wrapped over the coffin symbolizes heavy gloom and grief and the “drawing-down of blinds” signifies death.

In this summary of Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen depicts the war in a poetic narrative which talks about youth gone to waste. The word “Anthem” is an alternative term that is not glorifying rather degrading to anyone who has been in a war and taken a bullet in the name of the country. What’s ironical is that the youth who dies for the sake of their motherland is often ignorant about the reason that had raised the war. Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen takes the shape of a sonnet that talks about how the funeral of a fallen soldier can be held. The tone is reminiscent of Brooke’s sonnet where England and its chauvinistic patriotism is glorified in a mocking reality. Anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen begins in its octet with a rhetorical note where soldiers are said to die like cows with no one paying much attention to it. What follows is a remarkable play of sound symbolism, imagery and personifications where the fate of the youth is decided at the mercy of guns and the sestet ends in melancholy as the “pallor’ wraps up the coffin and the youth’s body is laid to rest on earth.

It’s good to know

• In return for a free lodging along with some tuition for entrance exams, Wilfred Owen worked as a lay assistant to the Vicar of Dunsden.
• Owen’s sexual development and concerned matters were deliberately removed from his letters by his brother Harold Owen, who found it “discreditable”. Andrew Motion also wrote of the Owens’ relationship with Siegfried Sassoon where he said, “On the one hand, Sassoon’s wealth, posh connections and aristocratic manner appealed to the snob in Owen: on the other, Sassoon’s homosexuality admitted Owen to a style of living and thinking that he found naturally sympathetic.”

Some online learning platforms provide certifications, while others are designed to simply grow your skills in your personal and professional life. Including Masterclass and Coursera, here are our recommendations for the best online learning platforms you can sign up for today.

The 7 Best Online Learning Platforms of 2022

• Best Overall: Coursera
• Best for Niche Topics: Udemy
• Best for Creative Fields: Skillshare
• Best for Celebrity Lessons: MasterClass
• Best for STEM: EdX
• Best for Career Building: Udacity
• Best for Data Learning: Pluralsight

About the author

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Other related Posts

Subscribe to get latest update

Anthem for Doomed Youth Introduction

In a nutshell.

War is Hell.

Sure, that's a cliché courtesy of William Tecumseh Sherman , but it's also a reality that a lot of soldiers throughout history have lived through. And it's a reality that a lot of the general public is sheltered from. Back home, there's usually a whole bunch of pomp and circumstance in wartime. There are funerals and prayers, parades and flag waving. There's a lot of talk about patriotism and glory. But, it's often completely detached from what's actually going on where the fighting is. And where the fighting is, things are a lot less glamorous.

Wilfred Owen , the poet behind "Anthem for Doomed Youth," was a young British officer in World War I . He entered the Great War full of enthusiasm and patriotic fervor, ready to fight and die for his country. But over time, after grueling months in the trenches, and through his encounter with Siegfried Sassoon (an older soldier and poet who was pretty cynical about the war) Owen came to realize that the realities of battle were far different from what he'd been led to believe. As in, they were much worse. Fortunately for us, this revolution in his thinking was also matched by big improvements in his writing.

With some help from Sassoon, Owen was soon writing brilliant, biting poems, including "Anthem for Doomed Youth," which was published posthumously in 1920. In Britain (and in much of the world), talk of the war was steeped in a jingoism that hid the realities of what was going on. (By the way, jingoism refers to the following attitude: "Our country is the greatest ever! Our enemies are vile and worthless! Let's go smash 'em good! Dying for your country is holy and glorious! Hurrah!") But "Anthem for Doomed Youth," along with Owen's other poems, brings the reader right into the normally hidden senselessness of this fighting, and the brutality, too. And the poems hold that horror-filled image up next to the more patriotic versions of war we get at home, so the reader could see how different, and how terrible, war truly is.

Owen died just days before the end of WWI, but in the fourteen months leading up to his death he produced a body of work that has come to be recognized as some of the best war poetry ever written. Of course, when we label Wilfred Owen a war poet, we shouldn't think of that as somehow diminishing the importance of his work ("Oh, he's just a war poet"). After all, the entire world he lived in was a world at war.

Why Should I Care?

National security. Freedom. Democracy. These days, every fighting man and woman has his or her own reasons for joining the military, each of them as valid as the next. But it's hard for us folks at home to get a handle on how those ideals translate to the huge sacrifices they make or the horrors they endure once they find themselves in hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Back in the states, we still have our daily lives to contend with, and with all kinds of news stories competing for attention, it's easy for the terrible daily grind of battle to get lost in the shuffle. Research shows that our modern wars don't quite hold the nation's attention the way they used to.

Of course back in Wilfred Owen's day, war was much more all consuming. World War I required all kinds of sacrifices on the part of the general public, and battles were often fought in villages and on farms where everyday folks were just trying to get by. But even still, it's hard for the people not directly affected by battle zones and bombardments to understand just how difficult, how terrible, combat can be.

That's what Owen seeks to highlight in "Anthem for Doomed Youth." That no matter how much we memorialize, tribute, or honor the fallen, we can't ever really know what it was like for them in those horrible moments before death. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" strives to make it impossible for us to ignore those realities, and to realize that in the face of all that horror, our anthems might ring hollow, no matter how much we seek meaning in them.

Tired of ads?

Cite this source, logging out…, logging out....

You've been inactive for a while, logging you out in a few seconds...

W hy's T his F unny?

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, – The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfred Owen was a World War One poet, killed just days before the armistice. Much of his most famous work focuses on his experiences of war.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Wilfred owen.

• Science & Math
• Sociology & Philosophy
• Law & Politics

Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth”: Summary & Analysis

• Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed…

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” is a famous poem which is written by Wilfred Owen and depicts the First World War.

He was born on March 18 th , 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire. After school, he became a teaching assistant and in 1913 went to France for two years to work as a language tutor. He began writing poetry as a teenager. In 1995 Owen enlisted in the British Army.

His first experience of active at Serre and St. Quentin in January-April 1917 to shell-shock and return to Britain. While he was undergoing treatment at the Hospital in Edinburgh, he met one of his literary heroes. Siegfried Sassoon, who provided him with guidance, and encouragement to bring his war experiences into his poetry.

In “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, not only has a true portrayal of life but also has fancy writing techniques. The poet uses metaphor and personification. Firstly, the poet uses metaphor to show how the war was cruel. Such as “The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells.”

Through this sentence, we can imagine the soldiers lived in a heavy shellfire environment, what pitiful men they are! Another writing technique the author of the gun, only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle.” The poet uses personification to show how the thought of him was at that moment. On the Warfield, you just hear shots were fired about in all directions.

In fact, the boys didn’t want to enlist in the army, they didn’t want to die. They had lovers in the hometown and the lovers are extremely worried about them. This poem contains many images related to funerals, death, and mourning. They can reveal the war’s true colors. The poet shows the readers a negative attitude about war. He stands firm against the war. So this poem gives a description of the war and exhorts people to deprecate war, to be peace-loving people.

However, in the beginning, Wilfred Owen’s work was quite conventional. At Craig Lockhart War Hospital Owen met with the war poet Siegfried Sassoon. This meeting seems to have been the real start of Owen’s career as a genuine poet. He uses his poem to condemn the horrors of war and the leader who declared and waged a war.

A parallel instance in “Generals Die in Bed”. Charles Yale Harrison says “We know what soldiering means. It means saving your own skin and getting a bellyful as often as possible…that and nothing else” (Harrison, 49). This instance depicts the significant message that war is not as glorifying as one might believe.

Related Posts

• Paper Beam Bridge Lab: Analysis
• Strange Fruit: Poem Analysis
• Essay Analysis Structure
• Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est: Summary & Analysis
• Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et decorum est’: Summary & Analysis

Author:  William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

Tutor and Freelance Writer. Science Teacher and Lover of Essays. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Post comment

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis Essay

War is one of the most horrific events that could possibly happen to our world. It is feared and avoided by generations of people. Even though the modern generations of humans growing up in the Western countries and on the territory of Global North have never faced real war, they are well aware of its terrors and scary consequences. The First and Second World Wars have taught people a memorable lesson. The events of the past still haunt some of the countries, the relics of the war are still being found in the places of former battlefields, the veterans are being honored and the films about the war times are still popular.

Of course, the modern humanity knows about the Wars not only from the history books and classes. The First and Second World Wars were massive events that caused horrible destructions and had millions of victims. Lots of people were enlisted in the army and fought at the front lines. Many of these people were poets and writers. Their works outlived the creators in order to serve as reminders of the awful and shocking circumstances these men and women had to witness.

Wilfred Owen was one of such poets. He was born in 1893 in England. He was a highly intelligent man and worked as a language tutor in France, until his patriotic duty sent him to the front line (Wilfred Owen, par. 3). All of the poems of Wilfred Owen are collected in a single volume. There are not many of his works, because this brave man died young.

He is a typical example of his generation, a young man with proper values that fought for his motherland and died at the battlefield as a hero, crossing the Sambre canal and leading his men (Wilfred Owen, par. 4). Owen’s style and works were strongly influenced by another great poet of the First World War times, Siegfried Sassoon (Biography of Wilfred Owen 2014, par. 2). Wilfred Owen was deeply touched by the scenes he observed during the war.

This is why many of his poems are tribute to the war times and reflect the pain and horror the young man had to experience every day. The descriptions of war in literature and poetry are much more striking than the dry facts from the history books. The art of using right words and comparisons in order to create the brightest associations in the minds of the readers requires a lot of talent and skills. Wilfred Owen possessed both, and this is why he is considered one of the greatest First World War poets in the world.

The poem called “Anthem for Doomed Youth” was written in 1917 in fall. The poet begins asking his readers a question about the young soldiers that are killed like cattle at the battle fields all over the world. Owen wonders what kind of “passing bells” (1) will say farewell to these boys and girls that barely saw the life. The poet describes the sounds of shooting guns and rifles and compares them to the prayers because these are the last and only sounds the young fighters hear before dying.

The author mentions that there are crowds of soldiers with such sad destinies that die together from both sides and remain forgotten and lost among the hundreds of other victims of the battles. The author answers his initial question saying that there are no “voices of mourning” (6) prepared for the unknown heroes. In the next lines of the poem Wilfred Owen says that the candle light that is always a part of the holy ritual will only shine in the eyes of the doomed young boys.

The poet mentions that these boys will remain lost in the battlefields, yet the memories about them will always live in the hearts of their loved ones and close people, and this is the only farewell ritual they will ever have. “The tenderness of patient minds” (13) will become the flowers on their graves. The last image the poet shares with his readers is the blinds being drawn down at dusk; this comparison is designed to remind of the civilian people at their homes during the war times grieving about the relatives and friends they lost. This last image also serves as a finalizing phrase that makes the poem complete and finished.

Wilfred Owen compares the routine of the front lines that surrounds the soldiers at the moments of their death with the only holy ritual they will have because under the circumstances of the war most of the soldiers that died at the battlefields were just forgotten, some of them never were properly buried.

The poem is called “Anthem for Doomed Youth” because Wilfred Owen got to personally observe the horrific conditions that were killing thousands of young soldiers every day. Most of these soldiers were under the age of twenty; they arrived to the front lines and were doomed. The ones that survived were called “the lost generation” because after they saw the realities of the war it was impossible for them to adjust to the normal life.

Works Cited

Biography of Wilfred Owen . Poem Hunter . 2014. Web.

Owen, Wilfred. Anthem for Doomed Youth . 2014. Web.

Owen, Wilfred . BBC . 2014. Web.

Owen, Wilfred. War Poetry . n. d. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 26). “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/anthem-for-doomed-youth-by-wilfred-owen-literature-analysis/

"“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis." IvyPanda , 26 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/anthem-for-doomed-youth-by-wilfred-owen-literature-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis'. 26 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/anthem-for-doomed-youth-by-wilfred-owen-literature-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/anthem-for-doomed-youth-by-wilfred-owen-literature-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis." February 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/anthem-for-doomed-youth-by-wilfred-owen-literature-analysis/.

• Wilfred Owen: romanticised and tender poetry
• “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen
• The Life and Work of Wilfred Owen
• "Dulce et Decorum Est" Poem by Wilfred Owen
• Imagery in Owen Wilfred’s “Dulce et Decorum est” Poem
• Owen’s "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Anthem for Doomed Youth"
• Anti-War Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and Dylan’s “Masters of War”
• War Poetry: Poets' Attitudes Towards War
• The Books "The Man I Killed" by O'Brien and "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Owen
• When is War Justifiable? Axiomatic Justification of War
• Shakespeare Literature: Prophecy and Macbeth Morality
• Literary Analysis of "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
• "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold Literature Critique
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Play by William Shakespeare
• Shakespeare’s Sonnet “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”