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Anthem For Doomed Youth Notes
Anthem For Doomed Youth Notes
Context: WW1 1914-18 Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the First World War. He was against war
and was appalled by the horror of war.
Form: A sonnet – a 14 line formal poem. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” has two sections, each
beginning with a question that the remainder of the section answers. It has a strict pattern of rhythm
and rhyme. There is an octet (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines). The octet is dominated by the sound of
battle. The sestet is characterised by muted grief. Linking these two sections is the sound of the
bugle.
Throughout the poem, Owen draws the comparison of traditional/religious/funeral rituals and
ceremonies with the actuality of death for a soldier on the battlefield. The table below gives a brief
outline of these comparisons.
1. The horror of war and the terrible conditions facing the soldiers, even after they have died.
2. The futility, meaninglessness and inadequacy of religion in response to such horror as seen
during the war.
Commentary: The title of the poem gives the reader the impression that they are about to
hear a formal musical item. The fact that the “youth” are “doomed” is clearly wrong. The
musical item does not materialise, as we are led by the poet into the battlefield to hear the
sounds of war, rather than the music of a memorial service.
Line-by-line Analysis
Summary
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” was written by a soldier, Wilfred Owen, who died in the last week of
the Great War. His poem clearly communicates the sorrow and horror he experienced during that
war. In the poem, the noise of battle gives way to silent grief. Young men who should have lived
died in the chaos of battle. Those who lost loved ones were not present at the deaths or burials of
their young men. In place of the usual funeral rites, sounds of battle, distant grief and nature’s close
of day were what they had to mark their deaths. Throughout the poem, Owen employed imagery to
bring to life the sorrow and horror of war – by describing the sounds and sights, by comparing a
fitting funeral to the reality of death in war and by questioning the sufficiency of religion to provide
solace in the face of such brutality.