Both poems clearly share similarities of intention. It is to tell people of the horrors of war and the inevitability of the most brutal of deaths. This is shown in lines ‘Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.’ And ‘lines of gray muttering faces, masked with fear’ in the poem ‘Attack’ and yet again in the poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ the lines ‘What passing bells for those who die as cattle?’ and ‘What candles may be held to speed them all?’ show the power of the poets vision which he wishes to communicate to the reader. But there is second intention in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. That is the impact on the people at home. This difference as I see it makes ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ more effective because of its double value.
Another area of difference is the form of the poems. Owen has chosen a sonnet. This helps him give off an ora of seriousness, the rhythm of the poem also helps him achieve his intention by using iambic pentameter, which is alike to the bells of a funeral. Sasson chooses a similar rhythm. His intention is to show all of the rhythms of the battlefield. But his form is not the same. He chooses to show the irregularities, brutalities with the suddenness of the ending of his poem. Therefore in my opinion I think ‘attack’ is more effective in its form because it shows accurately the speed of the battlefield and is not as clean and well rounded off as Wilfred Owens poem seems to be.
The structure of the poems also differs. Owen has chosen to divide his poem in two. In the octet he tells us about life on the front line. While in the sestet he describes the grief and sadness at home. By contrast Sasson has written a single versed poem. This helps him show the continuous battle. In this case I think ‘attack is the better because the battle would not have been split up.
The greatest similarity is perhaps the tone of the poems. They are both dark and somber with death hanging heavy in many lines, for example ‘Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.’ Owen is more questioning he wants to know why the war must go on and what people are doing to help the poor soldiers. However Sasson is much more pleading he says ‘o Jesu, make it stop!’ I believe that both of the poems are equally good in this aspect.
Sasson is more pleading. Both poets also make use of figurative language particularly personification. Owen uses personification to bring out a more effective sounding such as ‘the monstrous anger of the guns’ this makes the reader feel saddened because the guns are like monsters killing so many men. Sasson uses personification a lot more the use he finds for it is to make the whole environment appear to be against the soldiers and to make it appear impossible for the men to0 have even a hope to escape from this hostile and barren world. Both poets use alliteration to make their picture even more of a vivid one, for example ‘ rifles rapid rattle. Overall, however, I believe the more powerful picture of the battlefield is given by ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’
In conclusion then I feel that while both poems are powerful evocations of war, I believe the most effective of the two poems is ‘anthem for Doomed Youth’ because it shows the terribleness of war for everyone.
