Overview
This lecture provides a detailed analysis of Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth," focusing on its context, structure, literary devices, and key themes of loss, inadequacy, and the horrors of war.
Background & Context
- Wilfred Owen wrote the poem in 1917 while recovering from shell shock, assisted by Siegfried Sassoon.
- The original title was "Anthem for Dead Youth," later changed to "Anthem for Doomed Youth" to emphasize inevitable tragedy.
- Owen's early experience with religious work and subsequent disillusionment with the church influences the poem's themes.
- The poem critiques the failure of religion and traditional rituals to honor the sacrifices of soldiers.
Structure of the Poem
- The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, divided into an octave (first eight lines) and a sestet (last six lines).
- The octave focuses on the battlefield and its violent sensory imagery.
- The sestet shifts to the home front, highlighting grief and the lack of closure for families.
Detailed Analysis & Literary Devices
- The poem opens with a rhetorical question: "What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?" dehumanizing the soldiers through simile.
- Personification is used: "monstrous anger of the guns," suggesting weapons are valued over lives.
- The "stuttering rifles' rapid rattle" uses unpleasant alliteration to create powerful auditory imagery of gunfire.
- Repetition of "no prayer nor bells nor any..." emphasizes the absence of religious consolation and ritual.
- "Choirs" are sinisterly described as "shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells," using adjectives to evoke war's evil.
- The sestet asks, "What candles may be held to speed them all?" echoing Catholic funeral rituals, implying the soldiers lack spiritual send-off.
- Tears in "the holy glimmers of goodbyes" replace candles, using sibilance to mimic grief.
- The pallor (paleness) of girls' faces metaphorically replaces the pall (funeral cloth), further showing substitutes for rituals.
- "Flowers" become "the tenderness of patient minds"—mourning replaces physical tributes.
- The poem closes: "Each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds," symbolizing mourning and isolation after loss.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Petrarchan sonnet — a 14-line poem with two sections: an octave and a sestet.
- Octave — the first 8 lines of a sonnet, often presenting a problem or theme.
- Sestet — the final 6 lines of a sonnet, usually offering resolution or reflection.
- Simile — a comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., die as cattle).
- Personification — giving human qualities to non-human things (e.g., anger of the guns).
- Alliteration — repetition of consonant sounds (e.g., rifles rapid rattle).
- Sibilance — repetition of 's' sounds to create a hissing or soft effect.
- Pall — a cloth covering a coffin, metaphorically used in the poem.
- Lament — a poem expressing grief or mourning.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review the poem and identify examples of literary devices discussed.
- Prepare for a discussion or written response on how Owen’s personal context shapes the poem’s tone.
- Read additional works by Owen and Sassoon for further context.