Anthem1 For Doomed Youth

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

What passing-bells2 for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out3 their hasty orisons.4

No mockeries5 now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –

The shrill, demented6 choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles7 calling for them from sad shires.8

What candles9 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 pallor10 of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk11 a drawing-down of blinds.12

How is language used to achieve effects in ‘ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH’

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was born 18 March 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire. Owen was one of the most well-known poets of the world, his poetry was characterised by his disgust at war and the atrocities that occurred during it. Owen wrote the poem ‘ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH’ to show the world what was happening on the front line and to make people aware of the sacrifice they make for the country and the people. ‘ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH’ was wrote by Owen despite the fact that he was in hospital recovering from shell shock, subsequently fighting in the world war 1. Wilfred Owens’ Anthem for Doomed Youth is an effective poem, writing on how language and techniques are used to explain what the author is feeling- because Owen has actually been part of the war he is speaking about in the poem we get a real sense of being in his shoes. Owen uses many techniques to explain the horrors of war and explain to the reader what actually goes on in the front line.

The poem in question ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ illustrates firsthand what being in a war is really like. The graphic imagery and expression such as "dementing choirs" (line 7); "holy glimmers of goodbye" (line 11) makes the reader feel as if they are on the front line and in the thick of it! This is effective because the poet makes you feel part of the war, like being in the soldiers shoes, as it makes you hear what they hear. Wilfred Owen uses very powerful wording such as "die as a cattle" (line1), "riffles rapid" (line 3) "monstrous" (line 2) and codes to add meaning to what he is saying. The poem is written in sonnet format. The poem itself deals with sound imagery; the visual images convey to us the sorrow of death and hit the heart as to how it feels to lose a comrade. "What passing bells for these who die as cattle" (line 1) this can be referred to as lexis as the words that Owen uses make his feel part of the actual scenario.

From the very title of the poem Owen shows us his personal point of view of what he thinks of war- in the word ‘anthem’, he is trying to show us the seriousness of war- the word anthem in this context can mean a sacred song- however, when looking outside the box, anthem usually makes you think of a countries national anthem- giving us the imagery of hope and glory! In football matches for example, the anthem is sing with pride as if to say they are representing their country and are proud- there is however, no hope and glory or pride in this poem as we will see later on.

The words ‘Doomed Youth’ shows us that Owen thinks the youth’s who are taking part in the war have no hope and will very likely not survive the onslaught of war- basically stating that they are destined to die from the very beginning.

From the opening line, Owen explains to the reader how hideous the war is through a number of examples and comparisons. He asks questions to the reader, in order for them to think deeply about the poem and what he is actually saying. Very cleverly he goes on to answer the questions himself and makes them very easy to answer- he doesn’t answer these light heartedly, but instead with graphic detail, just to emphasis his opinion of how pathetic war is.

Again this very simple technique does exactly the same job and makes the reader just for a moment feel like a soldier on the front line, making them encounter the tragedy which they are forced to see day in day out. The boys "die as cattle", they have been slaughtered mercilessly. The simile here shows us how many deaths there actually are and highlights that it was a daily occurrence. The imagery of comparing the soldiers to animals is very effective making the reader see how the soldiers were being ‘slaughtered’ and not being grieved in the true manner in which they deserved,

Line 2 consists of effective personification used by Owen "Monstrous anger of the guns" shows us he portrays guns as humans running riot and had a mind of their own like monsters!

The guns are said to be taking so much human life that Owen shows them to being cold hearted and evil. The active use of alliteration in "stuttering rifle's rapid rattle" (lines 3-4), has "r" and "t" letters to create in the reader's mind sound images of the noise and the quick paced fire which contributes to the fast action of the octave.

Lexis and semantics are also effectively portray the horror of war by Owen very carefully chooses the wording in the poem to really hit the heart of the reader and explain the atrocities that are going on- ‘die as cattle’ is one of these as it shows as mentioned previously that they are treated as animals and no-body batters an eye-lid despite deaths occurring day in day out. Further on, the use of the word ‘monstrous anger’ is again use of Lexis as had Owen just used anger it would have had the same meaning however, adding monstrous in there gives it a whole deeper meaning. This can also be explained as being connotation as it inferred meanings and associations that the word has and so ‘monstrous’ to express the anger.

What real funeral will these boys have? No mourning - except for "choirs of wailing shells and bugles calling." This for Owen, who has himself fought in war, feels that this is not good enough and he shows how he feels about this subject. Line 7, "The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells", uses the words shrill and demented specifically to make the guns insane. The last line in the first stanza, "And bugles calling them from sad shires" is particularly emotive because it is saying that the only loss felt for the dead is that they cannot fight any more. "Wailing shells" is another form of personification. It seems that Owen is really trying to put the emphasis on the weapons which are taking the lives of these young warriors by using personification when he describes them. Personally by doing so, he makes me hate the whole idea of war. The rest of stanza one continues to be angry and bitter, referring to the weapons of destruction, until line 8 where it leads to a change in the sestet.

The first stanza of the poem focuses very much on sounds to show us the horrors of the war ‘deep, dark trenches would not have many sights’. Further on in the poem, religious symbols are used such as candles to send up to god so that their prayers are heard. It is said that the soldiers do not candles; the only light which they have is that in their eyes of despair and sadness. This imagery is continued in the closing line "Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes" seen to be especially emotional as it expresses the fact that one look into the eyes of the soldiers will tell you a whole story of what they have had to witness and the horrors of which they have been part of.

Nouns and adjectives take a prominent position in the poem- the nouns are mainly abstract (things that’s don’t exist physically and so in the poem anger, mourning and wailing). The effect of this that, Owen talks about the concept to inspire the reader the effects of being on the front line of the war

The adjectives give us the imagery which is needed to really feel what Owen is trying to tell explain- the horrors of wars!

To conclude, Wilfred Owen has produced an extremely emotional poem in which he pays respects to the soldiers how who sacrificed their lives yet has been forgotten by the world. Owen used different techniques with the language in order to make us feel a true part of the war and fit into the soldier’s shoes for that split second in which they are facing these horrors. Owen used similes and alliteration at its best to show us the grim realities of war and give us a real insight what soldiers go through. I am adamant that had these techniques and language not been used we as readers would not have felt anything towards the soldiers and would have taken the poem lightly- however, Owen has made us full of emotion reading this poem because of the brutalities they see and face.

Word count: 1462