Anthem For Doomed Youth Poem Analysis

Death is a very sad concept in any form of literature. Wilfred Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth pulls the reader into these feelings of depression resulting from the loss of a loved one. From the beginning to the end of the poem, Owen skillfully uses metaphors, imagery, and other literary devices to describe and narrate the story of young men of arms lost forever. Owen uses Anthem for Doomed Youth to express the hardships and emotional trauma experienced by soldiers and their families during times of war.

Looking at the title right away we know this poem has to involve death and the death of young people. The word anthem had multiple meanings however, for this poem the word anthem represents the point of view or movement taken by the youth. The doomed youth is talking about the young solders who are being sent to war. The words, “passing bells” (Owen 1) pull the reader to think of death, or more specifically funerals. However, it is not a death of any man. It is the death of solider that is being expressed in this poem. We as the reader determine it is the death of a solider, because of the mentioning of guns, and rifles (Owen 2,3). The first three sentences are pulling us into a world of sadness, and we are becoming the people who have to witness and be part of this death. In stanza one we are talking about the brutal death that the solider faced and how we as the people are impacted by it. We are reading about how soldiers are being put in the battlefield and how the only noise they can hear is the sounds of guns. It saddens the readers to know that even during their last breaths the solders are not able to say their last prayers because every noise around them is flaring guns (Owen 3-4). Stanza one greatly emphasis on h...

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.... It is a message to those people who knew what happened and those who experienced cruelties of war, and it is saying one should never forget but move on from these deaths. The poem is an extended metaphor of a funeral where the poet looks at a typical funeral in a church and compares it with what would happen to a soldier killed in battle.

In conclusion this poem displays a look on the truth about war and its affect on the young soldiers who participate in it. Owen clearly displays the idea of negativity towards war. He believes that war only causes problems for the families. He does not think war is good especially since the young are not treated properly before and after their deaths. Through great imagery and literary devices Owen is able to take us into his perspective and show us how war has impacted the soldiers and the families of the young lost ones.