Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled”
Wilfred Owen’s poetry was aimed to raise awareness of the harsh reality of war. Through his poetry he wanted to show people that there is nothing good about war, it is not an exciting adventure but rather just a waste of life. Through his own experiences on the front line he wanted to teach his audience the truth about war. In his poems “Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled” he talks about waste of young lives at war, physical and emotional pain and suffering people who enter the war go through, as well as soldiers not receiving proper funeral ceremonies they deserve.
The poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth” focuses on loss of young lives and the fact that they don’t receive proper funeral rites they deserve. The title itself explores the idea of young lives being in danger. The words “Anthem” “Doomed” and “Youth” are juxtaposed to highlight the brutality of war. The word “Youth” normally depicts the happiness of youth but it is placed next to word “Doomed” meaning they are bound for bad destiny. The title is very ironic as Anthems are normally associated with celebrations, but the war and loss of soldiers’ lives is anything but a celebration.
Wilfred Owen uses simile effectively in line 1 to show harsh death of soldiers at war. “What passing bells for these who die as cattle”. Here he compares soldiers to cattle. They die in large numbers in pain and agony.
He uses alliteration in stanza 1 “stuttering, rifles, rapid, rattle” to convey the sounds of destructive weapons opposed to bells and prayers at a funeral. This shows the responder the lack of burial rites at war in comparison to that at home. There is no recognition of death. Soldiers death is very insignificant at war, this can be seen in stanza 1 “no prayers no bells”. Rhetorical question in stanza 2 “what
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled”
Wilfred Owen’s poetry was aimed to raise awareness of the harsh reality of war. Through his poetry he wanted to show people that there is nothing good about war, it is not an exciting adventure but rather just a waste of life. Through his own experiences on the front line he wanted to teach his audience the truth about war. In his poems “Anthem for Doomed Youth” and “Disabled” he talks about waste of young lives at war, physical and emotional pain and suffering people who enter the war go through, as well as soldiers not receiving proper funeral ceremonies they deserve.
The poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth” focuses on loss of young lives and the fact that they don’t receive proper funeral rites they deserve. The title itself explores the idea of young lives being in danger. The words “Anthem” “Doomed” and “Youth” are juxtaposed to highlight the brutality of war. The word “Youth” normally depicts the happiness of youth but it is placed next to word “Doomed” meaning they are bound for bad destiny. The title is very ironic as Anthems are normally associated with celebrations, but the war and loss of soldiers’ lives is anything but a celebration.
Wilfred Owen uses simile effectively in line 1 to show harsh death of soldiers at war. “What passing bells for these who die as cattle”. Here he compares soldiers to cattle. They die in large numbers in pain and agony.
He uses alliteration in stanza 1 “stuttering, rifles, rapid, rattle” to convey the sounds of destructive weapons opposed to bells and prayers at a funeral. This shows the responder the lack of burial rites at war in comparison to that at home. There is no recognition of death. Soldiers death is very insignificant at war, this can be seen in stanza 1 “no prayers no bells”. Rhetorical question in stanza 2 “what