Show how Wilfred Owen uses poetry to convey his feelings about war in Anthem for Doomed Youth

Through out the poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' Owen compares the way men die at the western front to a Victorian funeral. Owen sections his poem into two stanzas the first one is an octet and the second is a sestet. The poem is an analogy of how nature conducts its own burial.

The opening line 'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?' uses a simile to conjure up the image of a slaughterhouse. It evokes the image of horrendous mass burials, as the 'cattle' are being slaughtered mercilessly. It highlights the huge and senseless sacrifice that the soldiers made. The opening line is an example of how Owen asks questions of the reader in order to make them really think about the poem. It offers the readers the opportunity to step into the soldiers shoes and encounter the tragedy that he encountered, this reflects the horrors of war on the front line.

'Only the monstrous anger of the guns', is this the answer to the question, depicting what the soldiers received. Through personification the guns are responsible for taking so much human quality of emotion; they feel anger and are made out to be evil. The image that is created is massive destruction and the crescendo of exploding shells. The word 'guns' creates a loud sound in the readers minds it also gives the impression that war is fierce like a monster. Additionally it implies that war is continuing around the soldiers, even during their burial, possibly highlighting a lack of respect, this again reflects the reality of war.

'Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle can patter out their hasty orisons', these two lines are very effective lines that imply that instead of prayers, the soldiers received the firing of bullets. The 'stuttering' of the rifle emulates the sound of the guns going off, the guns are not only alliterated but also to emphasise the sound of destruction that were occurring it also implies that the sound was not fluent. It is also onomatopoeic to add to the sound in the image that is formed in the readers mind. The imagery of children is created with the word 'patter', this word and the imagery it creates is associated with innocence. Yet it is used to symbolise the speed of the bullets of war and death. The contrast between the word 'patter' and 'orisons' is the sound it creates. "Patter" creates a soft sound whereas the latter quote creates a hard throbbing sound which suggests nature's desperation to conduct its own funeral. This also reflects the gruesome reality of war.

'No mockeries no prayers nor bells nor choirs' is the opening to the second quatrain and illustrates the horrific way in which these soldiers depart from this world and that they do not even receive basic objects that would be expected in a traditional ceremony, the irony is the fact that there is "no mockeries no prayers nor bells nor choirs" except the "monstrous anger of the guns and the "stuttering rifles' rapid rattle". Funerals conducted at home are hypocritical; they send people to war and they come back in plastic bags, they give them a fantastic funeral yet not knowing if they had not sent them, they would not be dead. It is more honest to be buried by elements than the people who sent you to war. Instead, these soldiers who have died fighting for their country received.

'The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells and bugles.' 'Shrill' is a hard and strong word that creates the image that the 'funeral' was not a quiet and peaceful way of saying goodbye to the soldiers. It creates a very piercing sound and is a harsh word. The word 'demented' is used to describe the shells. This conjures up the image that the shells have gone insane; highlighting the point that war was a totally crazy thing. It could also imply that the sound the shells made was exceedingly peculiar and frightening to hear. Additionally, the shells and bugles are described as 'wailing.' This is onomatopoeia and a personification. This word portrays the image of sadness, perhaps that so many innocent men had lost their lives for no obvious reason. It is also a hard word that suggests the unpleasantness of the situation, contrasting to the tuneful choirs that would be heard at a traditional funeral.

'Calling for them from the sad shires' the words 'sad shires' gives the readers the impression that the soldiers are reminiscing and are thinking about their home back in the "shire".

The word 'candles' represents the stair way to heaven or the light at the end of the tunnel which also represents the light of paradise, as they stand and see the 'glimmers of goodbyes' in each of the soldiers eyes as they drop to the floor. They see death in each others eyes; the explosion in their eyes is a metaphorical death. At home the blinds are hypocritically drawn as a sign of respect for those dead in battle, again this

'Each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds' yet again nature is also expressing its feelings as a sign of respect, by the day turning into night, the 'drawing- down of blinds' could maybe be symbolic of the secrets that the darkness has witnessed and could also mean that each day people are drawing-down their blinds as a sign of respect because everyday another family are receiving news of one of their loved ones being killed, the deaths of the young boys also reflects the horrific consequences of war.

In conclusion we notice that through out the poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' Wilfred Owen conveys his feelings of resentment and bitterness by referring back to his own experience of war on the front line, and he also gives the impression that he is rueful and does not want other young boys to go through the same horrific experience that he went through, he wants people to see that the more they encourage young men to volunteer to fight, the more they will "draw-down" their blinds, and as a result, more of their loved ones will be killed, he also sounds as if he would like to abolish the propaganda and deceit which also made him fantasise about adventure and fun and maybe then the young men will actually take some thought into what they are committing their lives to.