➥ ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH – WILFRED OWEN
About the Author
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was born on March 18, 1893. Owen was regarded by many as the leading poet of the first world war and was mostly known for his war poetry based on the horrors of trench warfare. Wilfred Owen was influenced early on by such authors as John Keats and the writings of the Bible. Born the oldest of four children, Owen was raised as an Anglican of the evangelical school. After leaving the school, he briefly attended the university of London where he worked as a student-teacher at Wyle Cop School teaching to pay his way for tuition. He was on the Continent teaching until he visited a hospital for the wounded and then decided, in September, 1915, to return to England and enlist. “I came out in order to help these boys– directly by leading them as well as an officer can; indirectly, by watching their sufferings that I may speak of them as well as a pleader can. I have done the first” (October, 1918). Owen was injured in March 1917 and sent home; he was fit for duty in August, 1918, and returned to the front. November 4, just seven days before the Armistice, he was caught in a German machine gun attack and killed. He was twenty-five when he died. The bells were ringing on November 11, 1918, in Shrewsbury to celebrate the Armistice when the doorbell rang at his parent’s home, bringing them the telegram telling them their son was dead.
Summary of the Text
William Owen wrote the well-known song “Anthem for Doomed Youth” in 1917. It has seven lines. This song is about how war changes people. The poet writes about how people who died in the First World War were buried. The poem is sad about the soldiers who died in the war. This poem shows how sad the men were during some very bloody battles. The artist also writes about the pain of families whose loved ones died in the wars. Song sung for the soldiers who died in the war is what the title of the piece means. This song is about how awful war is. He writes about how sad it makes him that so many men died in the First World War. A national anthem is what “anthem” refers to in this case. It’s a song to honor big events in our country. When stripped down, it’s just a war poem about soldiers and war. The author wrote this song in a hospital in Scotland while getting help for gun shock.
He wrote this song in 1917. In the fall of that year, he died in a fight. They didn’t want the war to happen. He talked about how war is bad. The artist said that killing a young man in war is like killing a lot of animals at once. Usually, the sonnet is about love and romance, but this time, the writer picked a different subject. This poem isn’t about love like the other one. This song is about war. Another important idea in this song is that the artist doesn’t like war. He says the war isn’t important for the country. That’s when he says guys who die in such a bloody war are bad for the country.
He says it’s terrible that so many soldiers have died. You think about why wars happen and what happens later when you listen to this song. The artist doesn’t understand why nations don’t know what happens and how it impacts people after a war. No country should forget the problems and sadness of people who have died in wars. In a beautiful way, the song shows how the fight was not like the quiet and peaceful Church services.
Critical Analysis
In this poem, the artist talks about how important church bells are when someone dies. In the Christian faith, a church bell is a bell that is rung in a church for events like weddings, funerals, and other times. A funeral service also rings the church bell in this way. The poet says that when someone dies, the church bells ring. But what sound does it make when men die in battle? In this line, the poet wants to make it clear that when people die in war, they die like cattle because there are no church bells to mark their deaths. This is not at all polite to them. There are no church bells rung for them. The artist sees them as animals that are dying on the battlefield. The poet makes holy images to help him understand why soldiers are dying.
The artist talks about the bad things about war. He says that people kill men in battle in a cruel way. Is killing them there like animals a good idea? “Passing bells” refers to the sound of church bells at a funeral to mark the death of a person, and “die as cattle” refers to people who are brutally killed all at once. “Cattle” is what the author calls the soldiers. It refers to a group of animals. In this poem, though, the word “cattle” refers to a group of troops who are all brutally killed at the same time. “Only the monstrous anger of guns” in the second line refers to how bad guns are in war. However, it works the opposite way of the church bells that ring when someone dies. The poet wants to say that when troops die, no church bell rings, but they face the hellish anger of guns on the battlefield. It means that troops are dying on the battlefield because of the thunderous sound of the guns. The poet goes on to say that the fast noise of the guns is a prayer for the troops who have died. The poet is saying that the sound of the guns and the fire on the battlefield sounds like a prayer for the troops who are dying there.
In this poem, the author talks about how fighters die very quickly and not naturally. It means they don’t die naturally like other people do. The poet has already said that dead soldiers are like dead animals. Now, the poet says that the prayer of the church is like the noise of guns on the battlefield. The artist doesn’t want war. It looks like the unsteady guns are praying or singing psalms for the troops who have died. It’s a very important question when it comes to war whether the effects are really important or not. So many men have died. Is it really fair that they died? Let’s all think about it here. Does everyone have to die in a war, or can they choose not to? Here, the poet gives the guns personalities. The poet says these weapons are a tribute to the soldiers who died in battle.
The artist also says that there is no honor for soldiers who have died. Soldiers deserve a special funeral because they protect us from danger. But they think it’s funny that we don’t give them at least a proper funeral, which is what they deserve for all they did. There are no special prayers or bells to ring to calm their soul. We are ashamed of ourselves, and it’s terrible that they die like cattle on the battlefield. It’s almost like making fun of their life. In this poem, the poet says bad things about wars and fights. On top of that, the poet says that no one feels sorry for the men who died on the battlefield. But the artist thinks that the sound of guns is like the sound offuneral singers singing about someone’s death. In this line, the artist wants to make it clear that the guns are a tribute to the soldiers, like funeral singers on the battlefield. In this line, the poet says that the group of funeral musicians sounds like shells.
No church bells, singers, or psalms ring out to honor the troops who are dying in battle. Instead, the noise of guns and shells is what honors the soldiers as they die. This poem uses the word “choirs.” It refers to a group of singers who play sad music at a funeral. There is also the word “bugles” in the poem. The word “bugle” refers to a brass instrument. The army and military use it, and it looks pretty easy. It looks like a little horn. People play it at the graves of soldiers to honor them. The poet says that bugles are played in a nearby village to honor troops who are being buried or having a funeral. There is no candle burning for the troops, the poet says next. Usually, when someone dies, candles are lit to honor or remember them. But here, no candles are lit to honor the deaths of troops to bring them peace.
It makes us feel terrible that we can’t honor them in any way, not even by lighting lights in their honor. For the poet, the light is not in the hands of the people who hold them, but in the eyes of their kids and family. The eyes of soldiers’ kids and family members are filled with anger or sadness. Lighting candles is a rite that people do to remember people who have died. The artist goes on to say that the families of the soldiers who died are seeing pure light. They’re very sad that someone close to them died. The poet says that holy shine is like the tears that come out of the eyes of fighters’ sons. They say goodbye to their loved ones for good.
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