Wilfred Owen "Anthem for Doomed Youth"

Introduction

Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is dedicated to the young soldiers who were sacrificing their lives on the hellish battlefields of World War One. However, it is also a criticism of the flag-waving patriotism promoted at home because their murder is far from glorious.

Instead of the “passing-bells” ringing from a church tower to mark their deaths, these men are only gifted the “monstrous anger of the guns”. The “prayers” and “choirs” are replaced by bullets and bombs. In this way, Wilfred Owen suggests the servicemen are nothing more than “cattle” being butchered on the front lines.

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

The Conceit

The poem is structured around an extended metaphor which compares some common funeral practices to frightening images of war. Owen uses this conceit to expose the disgraceful treatment of the brave soldiers who were being slaughtered while defending their King and country.

For example, an “anthem” can refer to a sacred hymn sung by church choirs and the congregation, or a patriotic song that celebrates a nation and its identity. Of course, Owen is using the word ironically. His sonnet, which is Italian for little song, is certainly not a triumphant celebration of British power and there is no choir praising the valiant soldiers.

On a first reading of the poem, the “choirs” in line six might seem to signify the singing in a church. However, its repetition in line seven reveals Wilfred Owen is actually describing the frightening din of “wailing shells”.

The angry tone of the poem is obvious in the opening line with the heavy boom of artillery fire signalling the “passing” of the soldiers rather than the rings from a church “bell”. There will be no minister or priest to recite “orisons”. It will be the “stuttering” rifle fire offering prayers and reading the last rites.

The repetition of “no” in the second quatrain emphasises the absence of “prayers”, “bells” and “voice of mourning” for these dead soldiers.

Traditionally, we light candles to commemorate the life of a loved one and to pray for their salvation. Sadly, there will be no “candles” to help “speed” the soldiers into heaven. Their bodies will not be covered by a “pall”, which is a cloth draped over a coffin, and there will be no “flowers” offered in condolence to the grieving family.

Perhaps the final line offers the most poignant image: “And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds”. When a funeral procession made its way along a street, many friends and neighbours would have closed their curtains to honour the deceased. The “slow dusk” is being compared to this tradition with the darkening skies suggesting the whole world is in mourning. This metaphor is particularly bitter because the soldiers are dying in a land far away from their friends and family.

A funeral is supposed to bring solace and closure to the death of a loved one. Shamefully, there is nothing for these men.

Weapons of War

The poem opens with a comparison of the soldiers being slaughtered like “cattle”. This simile is effective because it suggests the troops were being treated like irrelevant animals and that it was easy to ignore the huge number of fatalities. This dehumanisation of the men is particularly disgraceful because they are supposed to be fighting for their country

The soldiers are being murdered by the most efficient and terrifying weapons of war. Firstly, Owen personifies the machine guns with their “monstrous anger”. Not only do they sound hideous and frightening, but they seem to be consciously killing the soldiers with a terrible ferocity.

Using personification again, the poet then compares the faltering rhythm of the rifle fire to someone who is “stuttering” and struggling to get beyond the first sounds of the words.

The image of the “rifles’ rapid rattle” helps reinforce this quick and awkward rhythm because of their short vowel sounds and the way the triple alliteration of /r/ occurs on the first syllable of each trochaic foot so the stress is always falling. There is also the consonance in “stuttering”, “rattle” and “patter”, “out” and “hasty” with the repetition of /t/ mimicking the well-known tat-tat-tat sound of rifles firing.

After the description of the “guns”, the second quatrain mentions the “wailing shells” whose mournful cries through the air are combining to create “shrill, demented choirs”. This inventive personification compares one bomb to someone crying in grief or anger, but their high-pitched voice is only part of a larger church choir which is singing the same mad hymn.

It is important to note that Owen personifies each of these weapons, suggesting the bombs and guns are knowingly and purposefully killing the soldiers. However, the poet wants the reader to visualise these weapons as people because they are the hideous substitutes for the bell-ringers, ministers, congregations and choirs who are involved in a funeral.

The Mourners

The octet ends with the sounds of “bugles calling for them from sad shires”. A bugle is played at military funerals to signify a soldier’s final rest and the alliterative “sad shires”, which refers to the counties of England, reminds the reader that these men are dying in foreign fields, a long way from home.

This line prepares us for the sestet’s shift from the violent death of the soldiers to the poem’s focus on the sorrow felt by their family, friends and neighbours.

The “boys” have “holy glimmers of goodbyes”, which could suggest their “eyes” are glistening with tears”, the “girls’ brows” are terribly pale with grief, and other mourners express their sympathies with the “tenderness of patient of minds”. The final line alludes to the tradition in some communities of “drawing-down of blinds” in your windows as a mark of respect for the death of a neighbour.

These images of heartache show the immense impact each death has their loved ones, reminding the reader that the soldiers are not “cattle”.

Structure

The sonnet is split into two sections: the octet focuses of the deadly weapons of war while the sestet focuses on the mourners. Both begin with rhetorical questions whose answers then challenge our naïve view that war is noble and heroic.

Although the poem follows the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, the rhyme scheme is more typical of the English tradition. The first two quatrains have an alternate rhyme scheme of abab, the third quatrain is an abba enclosed rhyme scheme, and the rhyming couplet concludes the poem.

Sonnets are usually associated with themes of love, but there were many poems written in the 17^th century which focused on religion and faith, such as John Donne’s “Holy Sonnets”. Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” echoes this tradition. This is his lamentation for his dying comrades.

The Title

Interestingly, in one of the earlier drafts, Owen titled the poem “Anthem for Dead Youth”. This version mourns the death of those young men who have sacrificed their lives for their country. However, “doomed” includes those soldiers still fighting and dying in the trenches so the change is much more ominous.

Comprehension Questions

Why might a writer begin a poem with a question directed at the reader?
To what are the soldiers being compared to in the opening line?
What is the figure of speech? In detail, explain why the comparison is effective.
What adjective is used to describe the “anger of the guns”? Explain why it is effective
What sounds are repeated in line three?
What effect is the poet hoping to achieve with these repetitions?
What do the soldiers not have as their funeral song?
What else should they have at their funerals?
How does Owen emphasise the absence of the typical rituals of a funeral service?
To what are the choirs being compared?
What does “dusk” symbolise?
Apart from the evening, when else might people lower their curtains?