2. Background on the poet
Wilfred Owen was a young British man, who fought in
World War 1.
He joined the military believing all the propaganda that
the government put out – that joining the army was
the noble thing to do & it was good and honourable to
die for your country.
While on the battlefields though, he soon realised war
was not glamorous – he saw friends die all around
him – fighting another man’s battle.
He became disillusioned and wrote poems discussing
his experiences and emotions about the pointless
nature of war.
He was killed in battle shortly before the end of WW1
3. Full Text
1. What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
2. Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
3. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
4. Can patter out their hasty orisons.
5. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
6. Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
7. The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
8. And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
9. What candles may be held to speed them all?
10. Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
11. Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
12. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
13. Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
14. And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
4. Title:
Anthem for Doomed Youth
An anthem is an important religious song (often
expressing joy) or perhaps, a solemn song of
celebration.
“doomed” = destined to fail/die/end
provides immediate contrast to the idea of an anthem –
THIS anthem is sung for the doomed.
“youth” = the people involved are very young
The title is significant because it sets the tone for
the rest of the poem – the youth in question are
doomed to die and this anthem is sung in
“celebration” of their shortened lives.
5. Stanza 1: Line 1
1: What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
This is a rhetorical question – he provides the answer
in the next few lines.
“passing-bells” = holy rituals or notifications
Bells would be rung in churches whenever someone
important died – so the speaker asks what kind of notice
will be given to these dead soldiers.
“die as cattle” = simile indicating how these soldiers
are killed without mercy or consideration for their
loved ones.
They are murdered as “casualties of war” just like we kill
cattle for food.
The “passing-bells” indicate a religious image
6. Line 2:
2. Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
The speaker begins answering his question:
These soldiers are not going to have church
bells rung in their honour – ONLY the
“monstrous anger of the guns”
The words “monstrous anger” let us know these
guns are not just angry – they are so filled with
rage that they are like monsters.
The speaker is clearly speaking about men
dying during a war.
7. Lines 3 - 4
3. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
4. Can patter out their hasty orisons.
ONLY the rifles will provide prayers for the souls
of these dead soldiers.
The “stuttering rifles” = machine guns
“rifles rapid rattle” = alliteration: the harsh “R” sound
emphasises how quickly the bullets fly out of this
gun.
“Orisons” = prayers
The speaker is commenting on the fact that
these are not thoughtful deaths—they're quick,
loud, and messy. The battlefields are filled with
guns and death.
8. Line 5
5. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor
bells;
The speaker says there are no prayers and no
bells on the front to mock the dying men.
This is a strange/shocking image as you would
not expect a prayer to be described as a mockery.
The speaker, however, feels this way because
he thinks that those rituals ignore what's really
happening.
They glorify the soldier’s deaths by pretending
that the fighting is purposeful and noble, when
really it's no different than slaughtering cattle.
9. Lines 6 – 7
6. Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
7. The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
L6:There is no genuine mourning going on, on the
battlefield – only the choirs (Not real choirs though)…
L7: The speaker expands on his idea of “battlefield choirs”
to serve as a metaphor for the shells wailing down from
airplanes.
The diction: “shrill” “demented” “wailing” allows the
speaker to point out the difference between what life
and death are really like on the front, and the way that
government presents it.
The speaker is highlighting the hypocrisy in
pretending war was glorious, only to ignore the reality
and impact on these young men’s lives.
10. Line 8
8. And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
Our speaker now draws our attention to another
sound of mourning for the soldier—the sound of
bugles playing in sad towns.
A "shire" is an English term for a county.
The bugle is an instrument with military
associations.
This refers to all the towns left with half or more of
their young men dead.
There are quite a few musical references in this
poem, but unlike the metaphorical choirs – this
bugle music is real.
11. Stanza 2: Line 9
9. What candles may be held to speed them all?
Candles are traditionally lit to honour the souls
of the dead.
The speaker wants to know what candles all
these mourners can hold in honor of these
fallen soldiers. (What ritual can speed their
souls to heaven?)
From what we have seen so far, it seems like
there is no real way to help these soldiers…
12. Lines 10-11
10. Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
11. Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The speaker again answers his own question…
there are no candles on this battlefield.
He disregards the importance of candles =the false
mourning done by people safe at home.
The boys – presumably the soldier’s sons – hold
their candles at public memorials, but their true
emotions are reflected in their eyes.
Owen is emphasizing the emotional aspect of
grief—the private mourning that goes on. Holding a
public vigil is nowhere near as emotional as actual
tears.
13. Line 12
12. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
A “pall” is the cloth typically draped over a
coffin, so in this case, the girls' pale, drained
faces (pallor) will be metaphorically draped
over the soldiers' coffins.
The girls are the wives and daughters left
behind after a soldier’s death.
This line brings our attention to the suffering
caused by the death of the soldiers, not only to
the soldiers themselves but also to their towns
and families.
14. Line 13
13. Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
"The tenderness of patient minds" will be like the
flowers put on the soldiers' graves.
In that way, this line could be telling us that the
only positive tribute to the dead soldiers comes
from the tender thoughts and concerns of those
who have more patient, sensitive minds.
Those who are really concerned about their safety
and the danger they're in, and mourn their losses.
However, it could also mean that these “tender
minds” are not doing enough to bring the soldiers
home – what good are flowers to a dead man?
15. Line 14
14. And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Our speaker ends with an image of blinds being
drawn shortly before dark.
The drawing of blinds certainly works on one hand as
an image of death. The families that have lost young
men are the ones closing the blinds, as a sort of
matching image to the closing and ending of a life.
It also works as an image of civilians at home, with the
drawing down of blinds acting as a symbol for the
way they're keeping out the realities of the war.
They don't want to be troubled by it – or to see the
darkness, the terrible realities of the war.
16. Summary
Our speaker asks us what sort of notice or holy ritual
marks the deaths of soldiers who are slaughtered in
battle.
He then answers his own question, pointing out that
there are no special occasions or pleasant
ceremonies on the warfront—only the sounds of
weapons and battle, which he compares to a
demented song and ceremony.
Then he asks what ritual can be done to make those
deaths a little easier to deal with.
He concludes that only tears and the pale, drained
faces of their loved ones will send these deceased
boys off; the tenderness of patient minds will be like
flowers on their graves.
In the last image, our speaker comments on the
civilians ignoring the realities of war and believing the
