Poetry Analysis
ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH ANALYSIS 1. The Body of Poem
“Anthem for Doomed Youth”
By: 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, 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 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.
2. Poem published: October 1917 3. Facts about Wilfred Owen: * Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. * His shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his friend Siegfried Sassoon and stood in stark contrast to both the public perception of war at the time, and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. * Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are "Dulce et Decorum Est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility" and "Strange Meeting". 4. Physical analysis: word count: 112;
Petrarchan sonnet- related to the structure of the poem, we can say this poem is a variation of the Elizabeth sonnet. Owen has divided to the fourteen lines of this sonnet into two stanzas, the break coming at the end of the line 8. As is the case with the Elizabethan sonnet this poem has ten syllables of Iambic Pentameters, because there are five feet, and each foot contains a short syllables followed a long one. 5. Topic: die in war
“Anthem for Doomed Youth”
By: 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, 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 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.
2. Poem published: October 1917 3. Facts about Wilfred Owen: * Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. * His shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his friend Siegfried Sassoon and stood in stark contrast to both the public perception of war at the time, and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. * Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are "Dulce et Decorum Est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility" and "Strange Meeting". 4. Physical analysis: word count: 112;
Petrarchan sonnet- related to the structure of the poem, we can say this poem is a variation of the Elizabeth sonnet. Owen has divided to the fourteen lines of this sonnet into two stanzas, the break coming at the end of the line 8. As is the case with the Elizabethan sonnet this poem has ten syllables of Iambic Pentameters, because there are five feet, and each foot contains a short syllables followed a long one. 5. Topic: die in war