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Anthem for Doomed Youth 
by: Wilfred Owen 
 
Themes: 
➔ Criticism of war 
➔ Anger at the government for using propaganda to sugarcoat it  
 
 

Form + Structure  
 

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2 stanzas  
Octave - 8 lines 
Description of war ⇒ creates an image of violence and hostility 
Myriad of onomatopoeia and epithets associated with war, immediately 
followed by objects associated with funerals and religion​ ⇒ suggests 
the immediacy of death and how little time there is to experience grief 
for the lost soldiers since so many are dying rapidly; it’s impossible to 
keep up
...
  
Grief, loss  
Adjectives, verbs, nouns hint at religious rituals, such as funeral 
ceremonies, however, the poet suggests that true grief can never be 
helped and will leave the person, who is mourning for their loved ones, 
with mental trauma for decades, if not a lifetime
...
When one battle is complete, 
another one is quick to start
...
 
They are no longer with one another, and 
will never have the chance to reunite due 
to the gruesome war​
...
If anyone heard it, they 
were to pray for the person’s soul to be passed to heaven, which is why the 
adjective “passing” was used
...
The rhetorical question “what passing-bells” suggests that there was 
no such ritual during the war, implying that no respect was paid to the dying 
soldiers nor did anyone remember them
...
He creates such a distinct 
contrast to suggest that even though the soldiers die in a matter of seconds, 
the mourning families suffer through their grief immensely slowly and with 
agony
...
This emphasizes how inhumane war is; 
men are being treated as if they were animals
...
The poet believes that humanity shouldn’t go 
against each other in an attempt to prove who is the strongest, rather work as 
a united force
...
  

 
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Onomatopoeia “stuttering rifles”, “rapid rattle” & “wailing shells” 
These are all sounds one would encounter on the battlefield
...
  

 
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Personification “Only the stuttering rifles… can patter out their hasty 
orisons” 
[ Furthermore from the rhetorical question ]​​ Suggests that the only sounds the 
dying soldiers heard were those of the shooting of the guns
...
  

 
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Metaphor “holy glimmers” 
It is a metaphor for the tears of the altar boys, who are holding the candles
...
The tears carried sadness, pain; the boys were losing their faith in 
humanity
...
  

 
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Metaphor “pallor” 
The paleness, “pallor”, of the girls is compared to being a “pall”, which is a piece 
of cloth used to cover one’s coffin, obviously hinting at the absence of a 
funeral
...
  

 
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Metaphor [epithet] “patient minds” 
The patience that the families have whilst waiting for their rendezvous with the 
men who went to serve in the army is as affectionate and “tender” as the flowers 
at the illusionary funeral
...
The 
soldiers never received the farewell they rightfully deserved ] 

 
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Alliteration “​st​​uttering”, “ha​st​​y”, “​sh​​rill”, “​sh​​ells”, “​sh​​ires” 

This subtle alliteration, particularly when read aloud, creates a terribly 
haunting atmosphere, almost as if someone was creepy whispering
...
It is the 
suffering and mourning of the families after losing their loved ones in the war
...
 

 
 

Tone 
 

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Angry 
Melancholic 
Oratorical​ - lots of pauses and rhetorical questions create silence 
where the listeners are practically forced to reflect on the horrors of war 
and the need to commemorate the lost soldiers  



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