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."

Wilfred Owen

Through “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, a well known petrarchan sonnet written by Wilfred Owen, the reader sees the horrors of war and how unfortunate it is to die in war. Owen fought in World War I and wrote this poem while in a hospital recovering from shell shock. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” solemnly discusses death in war and shows how those who die in war do not receive the normal ceremonies that are used to honor the dead. Owen was able to express how he felt about those who passed away while fighting in war, and he successfully communicates a moving message to his readers in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”.

First, Owen relates to his audience how horrible going to war is. The title of Owen’s poem is “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. This meaningful title conveys a strong, gloomy feeling; usually an anthem is a joyous song of celebration but when coupled with “Doomed Youth”, anthem takes on a whole new meaning that implies much sorrow. Also, “Doomed Youth” provides a woeful impression because it foretells of young people having no hope. Moreover, the first line of the poem describes the “Doomed Youth” dying “as cattle”. This description shows how awful war is. The description depicts multitudes of people being slaughtered and the nature of war to be full of mass deaths. Owen gives the sonnet a powerful, negative connotation from the very beginning.

            Furthermore, Owen compares the events of war to traditional burial rituals and describes how those who die in war do not receive proper funerals. In the first stanza, Owen references the “monstrous anger of guns” to “passing-bells” and “rifles’ rapid rattle” to “hasty orisons”. Usually at funerals or ceremonies for the dead there are bells ringing and prayers being said, but Owen shows that in war there are only the sounds of guns being fired. In war, instead of honoring those who have fallen, more are being killed by the same weapons. In the last stanza, Owen says “…but in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall”. Here Owen illustrates the families’ reactions to finding that their loved ones have died. The dead soldiers do not get to be honored by their family and friends, but all the family can do is grieve at the sorrowful news. Owen communicates how depressing war is by making an effective comparison that the readers can relate to.
            In conclusion, after reading “Anthem for Doomed Youth” the reader’s entire perspective on war can be changed. Owen paints the horror of war in sensational manner that gets his message across strikingly well. Through his poem, Owen stirs up the heart and greatly influences the reader’s thoughts on war and those who fight in it.