Anthem for Doomed Youth
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; 5
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 10
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.
Themes:
War: As Owen was a soldier himself, he witnessed the brutality and horrors of war. These aspects were ignored by others -
such as Jessie Pope - who wrote propaganda persuading young men to fight for their country. In this poem Owen shows that
the glory portrayed by those writers is an illusion. He does this by comparing the soldiers to “cattle” dying in their herds,
with no ceremony and little comfort in their final moments.
Religion: The poem reflects Owen’s loss of faith as he shows how inadequate religion and faith are when faced with the reality
of the trenches. The poem refers to aspects of religious ceremony, such as bells and choirs. It also refers to funeral
practices, such as including candles and flowers in the church service. We see how the young men who die in war are denied
these ceremonial goodbyes. Owen conveys the inadequacy of religion in helping these men when they need it.
Death: Anthem for Doomed Youth is a lament for the deaths of the young soldiers who died in the war. In highlighting the
reality of life in the trenches, Owen shows such a death to be bleak and harsh. The use of imagery and sound effects
emphasises noises such as gun and shell fire, and the pitiful call of the bugles lamenting the loss of the soldiers back home.
We picture the chaotic deaths of young frightened men and the pain of those left behind.
Tone and Mood:
1st stanza: Bitter and angry. The rhetorical question in line 1 shows the insignificance of funeral ceremonies against the vast
numbers of soldiers killed in battle, who die in such numbers that their deaths are compared to the violent deaths of animals in
a slaughterhouse. The poet expresses anger and bitterness in the fact that the only "ceremonies" the soldiers will have is the
destructive onslaught of the guns (their "monstrous anger"), and the only "prayers" (orisons) they will receive is the literal sound
of gunfire, as expressed by the alliteration in "stuttering rifles' rapid rattle". The poet's bitterness and anger continue with the
invoking of even more religious imagery, such as the soldiers having no peaceful, angelic choirs to mourn them, only the
apocalyptic wailing of falling explosive shells.
2nd stanza: Depressed and mourning. The second stanza shifts way from the first's more chaotic imagery (firing guns and
wailing, explosive shells) to the softer, more subdued atmosphere of the people who now have to mourn the young men who
will never return from the war. Another rhetorical question at the beginning of the 2nd stanza once again shows the
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; 5
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 10
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.
Themes:
War: As Owen was a soldier himself, he witnessed the brutality and horrors of war. These aspects were ignored by others -
such as Jessie Pope - who wrote propaganda persuading young men to fight for their country. In this poem Owen shows that
the glory portrayed by those writers is an illusion. He does this by comparing the soldiers to “cattle” dying in their herds,
with no ceremony and little comfort in their final moments.
Religion: The poem reflects Owen’s loss of faith as he shows how inadequate religion and faith are when faced with the reality
of the trenches. The poem refers to aspects of religious ceremony, such as bells and choirs. It also refers to funeral
practices, such as including candles and flowers in the church service. We see how the young men who die in war are denied
these ceremonial goodbyes. Owen conveys the inadequacy of religion in helping these men when they need it.
Death: Anthem for Doomed Youth is a lament for the deaths of the young soldiers who died in the war. In highlighting the
reality of life in the trenches, Owen shows such a death to be bleak and harsh. The use of imagery and sound effects
emphasises noises such as gun and shell fire, and the pitiful call of the bugles lamenting the loss of the soldiers back home.
We picture the chaotic deaths of young frightened men and the pain of those left behind.
Tone and Mood:
1st stanza: Bitter and angry. The rhetorical question in line 1 shows the insignificance of funeral ceremonies against the vast
numbers of soldiers killed in battle, who die in such numbers that their deaths are compared to the violent deaths of animals in
a slaughterhouse. The poet expresses anger and bitterness in the fact that the only "ceremonies" the soldiers will have is the
destructive onslaught of the guns (their "monstrous anger"), and the only "prayers" (orisons) they will receive is the literal sound
of gunfire, as expressed by the alliteration in "stuttering rifles' rapid rattle". The poet's bitterness and anger continue with the
invoking of even more religious imagery, such as the soldiers having no peaceful, angelic choirs to mourn them, only the
apocalyptic wailing of falling explosive shells.
2nd stanza: Depressed and mourning. The second stanza shifts way from the first's more chaotic imagery (firing guns and
wailing, explosive shells) to the softer, more subdued atmosphere of the people who now have to mourn the young men who
will never return from the war. Another rhetorical question at the beginning of the 2nd stanza once again shows the
