The main theme in stanza one of "Anthem for Doomed Youth" however is the lack of a funeral for people dying in the war. An example of this is "choirs of wailing shells"; this means that the only choir they have when they die is the sound the shells make as they move through the air, as opposed to at a funeral where they would have singers. The theme in stanza 2 is about the people back at home losing their loved ones. Owen has written "each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds"; this is saying how there is death every day, and how people have to deal with it. I think these themes show me that Owen's attitude to war is that it is a terrible thing, because it takes away people’s right to a funeral and therefore the soldiers' individuality is taken away from them. I also think, from stanza two, that Owen thinks that it is unfair for the people back home to have to go through the stress of the war.
Another factor to analyse when comparing the two poems is the mood; throughout both this is mainly bitterness, and therefore a comparable constituent. In "Dulce et Decorum Est" Owen writes "we cursed through sludge" this portrays the fact they are now cursed because they are off to fight, and also, the use of the word "sludge" emphasises the bad conditions. In "Anthem for Doomed Youth" Owen writes "these who die as cattle". I think this shows he is very bitter because he is saying that the way in which the men go of to war is analogous to the way in which cattle are slaughtered. However, in stanza two of "Anthem for Doomed Youth" the mood somewhat changes from bitterness to sadness. The poet describes "the drawing down of blinds", and this shows he is feeling sympathetic towards the community back at home because he talks about the tragedy of war for them and not just the soldiers. I think this shows yet again the poet’s bitterness towards the war, however I also think it shows he is feeling some commiseration for the victims of war back at home.
Wilfred Owen uses emotive imagery throughout both poems in an effective way. In "Dulce et Decorum est" there is much war imagery such as "haunting flares" describing the noise the flares made as they whistled over the soldiers’ heads. It also describes the haunting feeling the soldiers had when they heard them. Another type of imagery in "Dulce et Decorum est" is death. One example of death imagery is "I saw him drowning", this is a very specific and personal account of one particular event and one particular person that is "flung" into a wagon. The effect of this is that it has a feel of individuality and lets the reader relate to the poem easily. I think these show that Owen is feeling sorry for the people that died in the war, but at the same time bitter about how soldiers were de-humanised as if they had no name; they were just there to fight. I can tell this by the wording "flung", it is acting as if the soldier is not human anymore; he is just an object.
War, and death images are also used in "Anthem for Doomed Youth" however, in quite a different way. In this poem Owen describes death in general, and about how people at home managed to cope with relatives' deaths. A quote to show this is "what candles may be held to speed them all?" An example of war imagery is "wailing shells", this has the same effect on the reader as "haunting flares" and I think it is quite effective. I think these show us that Owen thinks the war has affected everyone involved, and therefore he speaks about the war in general.
The narrative structure in "Dulce et Decorum est" is first person; it is Owen describing an event happening from his eyes. I think this is quite effective because it gets the reader more involved in the poem. It is quite a long poem and this also gets the reader to read on. Poetry techniques used in this poem are, similes, alliteration and rhyme. An example of an effective simile is "as under a green sea", describing the gas engulfing a fellow soldier. I think it is effective because "drowning" is a very strong word and makes the reader think of a helpless death.
The narrative structure in "Anthem for Doomed Youth" however is third person. It is Owen talking about his thoughts on war and the effect of war back home. This poem is very short, only two stanzas long; I think this is because the soldiers are dying so quickly and also they are only young when they die out at war. This poem is a sonnet; there are fourteen lines, and the rhyming scheme is ABABCDCD EFFEGG. The main poetry techniques used in this are similes and personification. An example of personification is "monstrous anger of the guns", because guns can't really be angry, however Owen uses this word to give an impression that it is angry with the opponent. An example of a simile is “choirs of wailing shells”, it is saying the noise the shells make is like a choir singing, I think it is quite effective because it is something the reader can relate to.
Overall I think there are a lot of comparisons and contrasts of the styles and techniques between the two poems. After analyzing these I have gained a better idea of the poet’s attitude to war. I think that Owen is quite bitter towards the idea of war. I have concluded this from many quotations e.g. “these who die as cattle” and “as under a green sea”. Another conclusion I have made is that Owen feels sorry for the families back at home that have lost relatives due to the war, I can tell this because he says “the drawing down of blinds”, and therefore shows he is thinking about them.
