The title is also an oxymoron as ‘Anthem’ is considered as a happy verb but at the same time the word ‘Doomed’ is used. As we can see Wilfred Owen has already set the mood for the poem.
The first line in the poem starts with an angry question asking ‘what passing-bells for these who die as cattle.’ In the plague a bell was rung for every person who died until the bells didn’t stop ringing as too many people had died and therefore the bells were stopped. This line has similarities with this as a ‘passing bell’ was rung for every person who died in battle, but what Wilfred Owen was telling us was that what was the point of ringing a bell as so many people were slaughtered just as ‘cattle’ would be.
The second line shows the ‘monstrous anger of the guns.’ Wilfred Owen has used personification here by saying that the guns have life like qualities and have anger. The guns are also shown as monsters as they have the ‘monstrous anger.’
Wilfred Owen then talks about the ‘stuttering rifles rapid rattle.’ This is alliteration and is used to make the sound of the gun sound like it is ‘stuttering.’ This is also onomatopoeia as the sound of the gun is being made.
The poem then shows how for the dead there will be ‘no mockeries for them from prayers or bells,’ and ‘nor any voice of mourning save the choirs- the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells.’ This is another similarity to the plague by referring to the bells again but is saying that hardly any of the war casualties are being buried properly but are buried anywhere when there is time. This again refers to the plague as body’s were dumped anywhere where there was room. When it says ‘the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells,’ Wilfred Owen means that there is no time for religion but if there was it would be a ‘mockery.’ The ‘choirs of wailing shells,’ are the whistling sounds that the bombs would make when they fell to the earth. Wilfred Owen has used strong adjectives in the first stanza such as demented and wailing to emphasise how bad this war really is.
The final line of the poem changes the mood of the poem by honouring the people who have died in the war as at a funeral ‘bugles’ are played in honour for the deceased. It also shows how everywhere in the country has been affected as people have died and people are mourning from ‘shires’ which are places such as Warwickshire.
‘Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.’ Wilfred Owen is now showing how everybody that has died is being remembered by their family and friends.
As the soldiers don’t get a proper funeral the ‘pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall.’ As the pall is the cloth that is draped over the coffin at a funeral it means that the soldiers can’t have a proper funeral.
When Wilfred Owen writes ‘not in the hands of boys’ he means that the choir boys are no longer singing but people are crying over their loved ones.
The poem Attack is a very powerful poem using powerful adjectives all the way through such as glowering and roars.
The poem starts off in the early hours of the morning ‘at dawn the ridge emerges.’ The ridge is the battle line at which both teams would try a surprise attack.
Sassoon then talks about the ‘wild purple of the glowering sun.’ This means that the morning sun looks bright purple as it is still very early and seems to always be in the soldier’s faces.
The words ‘menacing’ and ‘glowering’ are very similar words showing that the soldiers are always under fire.
Sassoon then shows how the tanks are creeping up and ‘topple forward to the wire’ as they don’t have suspension and any big dips they will go down. The wire is the barbed wire that has been layed down to try to stop the enemy from getting any further.