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Analysis Of Anthem For Doomed Youth

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Anthem for Doomed Youth With over 18 million deaths and 23 million wounded, World War One is classified as one of the most deadly conflicts in human history. The majority of these victims would have been soldiers who were only very young. Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is an emotional elegy dedicated to the fallen soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” was written by Owen while recovering from shell-shock in a psychiatric hospital. Owen was killed less than a year after writing this poem. His death was just one week before the armistice was signed and the war was ended. Owen was widely known for other poems criticizing war such as “Disabled” and “Mental Cases”. [Poem recital.] In “Anthem for Doomed Youth” Owens protests against the senseless waste of young lives in the First World War, It focuses more on the negative side of war. Owen cleverly creates a question answer theme throughout the poem. It begins by rhetorically asking why the soldiers didn’t receive the proper burial formalities. It’s stated in the following line that any funeral ceremonies will be replaced by the sound of gunfire. Throughout this stanza, the death of soldiers is compared to that of a civilian. Once again, the second stanza begins by criticizing the absence of burial ceremonies. However, this time it follows on by discussing the effect on the families and loved ones back home. It describes how there will be no candles lit in their memory, but instead there will be the shimmering in the other men’s eyes and that the pale skin of their loved ones back home will act as their pall; the cloth covering the coffin. Two key themes are represented throughout the poem and each stanza is given a theme. The first stanza describes the horror of war, whereas the second stanza discusses the pity of war. The horror of war is portrayed in lines such as “No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs.” These lines emphasize the harsh reality for these fallen soldiers. It reiterates the lines prior saying how there are no traditions of respect on the battlefield, which is an unsettling thought. It depicts the real horror of dying on the battlefield.

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