Anthem For Doomed Youth Analysis

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 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 goodbyes.
   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.

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Thnx 2 whoevr posted the coment on 2008-02-20. Before, i had the impression that by 'patter out their hasty orisons' Owen meant the quick prayers that the soldiers mutter right before they die. But this is anothr way of looking @ it & thx 2 whoever that posted it.

| Posted on 2008-08-29 | by a guest

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One thing that I would like to point out is the format of the poem. It is in the format of a sonnet which is commonly used for love and romance but this poem is a war poem perhaps it suggests conflicting ideas about war as some see it as wonderful and great?
Just some random epiphany,
Shann.

| Posted on 2008-08-17 | by a guest

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this poem is really boring and i wish no one had ever written it
get an imagination mate
my cat could write a better poem

| Posted on 2008-07-14 | by a guest

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i feel that the poem showed appaling sense of imagination and stunk like like ha ha ha u thought this was going to be smart feel my pashion ah

| Posted on 2008-07-02 | by a guest

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i think that this poem shows that the soldiers in war died to the sound of guns and violence as said in lines 2and3.
i also agree that this poem shows the contrast between a proper burial and the one the soldiers had in war.
Line1 shows the comparison between the death of a soldier and the death of cattle because if you think about it cattle die usually after being slaughtered and they don't get a proper burial.
And thats all i have =]

| Posted on 2008-06-20 | by a guest

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if you want some of bridgette call 0402681137
she offers something that is out of this world.
she also like to smell other girls chairs :S
she has a stalker from her last out of this world experience and his name is Billy...

| Posted on 2008-06-02 | by a guest

.: Contrast :.

I feel that this poem shows much contrast as compared to a peacetime funeral. A peacetime funeral takes place normally at home or in a funeral parlour, but there is no real funeral for the soldiers' in this poem, no passing bells for the dead, only rifle and machine gun fire.
Next, in a peacetime funeral, prayers are usually said to appease the souls and candles are lit. However, int he poem, no prayers are said (line 5) and no candles are lit (lines 9 & 10) The only light that is there in their funeral will be the "glimmer of goodbyes" in their eyes (line 11)
Lastly, in a peacetime funeral, the choir will sing songs of mourning. However, in the soldiers "funeral", the only choirs are the shrill choirs of the shells that hit him (line 7) and the sounds of military commands by the bugle will be the only instrument mourning him.

| Posted on 2008-05-11 | by a guest

.: This poem :.

I feel that this poem is suitable in portraying the youths who are literally "doomed" as they go out for war. These youths' deaths are inevitable as shown from "And bugles calling them from sad shires," which means that military funerals have alrdy been carried out in their sad homelands. The government and the people knew that these youths were doomed to fail and lose their lives. Also, they die in the most insignificant and gruesome way as possible. It is insignificant as they die amidst the horrible war, with "the monstrous anger of the guns" and the "rapid stuttering of rifles," which speaks out hasty funeral prayers. This shows that these youth's deaths are not commemorated in any heroic, slow or solemn manner but in the most trivial manner possible as the prayers are conducted quickly without much heed, and they are dying far away from their homelands, without their loved ones, just the war, and the shrill of bullets to accompany their death. This is such a horrible and merciless way to die. These youths are slaughtered like animals as shown from the word "cattle", which symbolizes how trivial and cameo their lives are, akin to lambs to the slaughter. Also, how about the last stanza: dusk and the drawing-down of binds. This portrays night and symbolizes death, as the drawing down of curtains is a tradition to ensure that the person's death is a sign to the world and also a mark of respect

| Posted on 2008-02-20 | by a guest