Compare and Contrast the attitudes to war conveyed in the poems Anthem for Doomed Youth and The Soldier

Compare and Contrast the attitudes to war conveyed in the poems ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘The Soldier’

Anthem for Doomed Youth, written by Wilfred Owens and The Soldier, by Rupert Brooke, are two war poems written during the Second World War. They are both based on different sides of the war and are both Sonnets based on Shakespearean layouts. The first one, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, describes the flaws and disadvantages of the war. Saying it is a loss of young men, as described in the title. The second, ‘The Soldier’, contradicts with the first poem, explains that it is devote for our country, a soul cleaner. There are similarities in these Sonnets, such as that they both talk about death and how this counteracts.

In ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ the poet, Wilfred Owen, describes war as a “die as cattle”, being a slaughter, and a barbaric fight that if fought, you have no choice like the cattle in a slaughter house, to be killed. When Owen describes the “anger of the guns” with monstrous he shows the “funeral” is not of anger but of pity and sorrow. This also shows how furcating and devours the death of many people is. Owen uses many persuasive techniques like Onomatopoeia such as the “rapid rattle” used when the “stuttering riles’”, used to describe the only sound being the continues fire of guns.

Owen uses religion in the sonnet, because in 1914, Christian religion was a lot larger then it is today. Families would pray for their loved ones, also mourn, who would be in the war, this being fathers and sons. Regular hymns where also sung at church sermonise for their loved ones, in the war. At the end of the war ‘Church Bells’ where a sign of it to end, and thus there was relief. Yet in the Sonnet;

“No mockeries now for them: no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs

The shrill, demented ...

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“No mockeries now for them: no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells”

This would realized that there was no end, and that there as a definite end to all who shall be caught up in the mess of the war. This also shows that so many have been caught in the net of the war that there is too many people to “mourn” about. When Owen says “demented choirs of wailing shells”, he uses the same idea as before. People have given up of forgotten but prior to before this new idea emphasis that war has not, it is of the moment. The moment being all the shells, bombs and gun shots, acting on as the choir the actual voice of the war being this.

The very last line of the first half of the sonnet, which is usually the octet, quotes “And bugles calling for the from sad shires”, this basically indicated that few will be successful. The bugles, meaning Trumpets which is a metaphorical term of being successful when blown, usually used for the arrival of important people in the 16 century now indicated a new success dawned on the survivors of the “won” war. The shires, meaning the loved one, further increasing the joy war, that there will be the few who survive and are treated honourably and nobly. This is the one good thing Wilfred Owen has written in the sonnet.

For, when Owen continues, his attitude changes as he writes, “Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes” suggests intention of the “boys” being the young soldiers being killed off, their “eyes”. They can only use what they have, in other words, the light has been turned off, and their life is over. He concludes this idea with “Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes” which is looks on the idea of that they will die.

The sonnet’s last two lines, the concluding lines are;

“Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow ducks drawing down of blinds.”

These focus on the idea of flowers, which are usually given at a few occasions, one being when someone is lost, so this being used in the metaphor is another conclusion that you well perish at war. The last line clarifies the end of war, and dusk, which is light, which shows the ruins of war. The battlefields of war are normally scared, with no greenery, and the dusk symbolizes the new look, but the “drawing down of blinds” is the scared battlefield.

‘The Soldier’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ both have similarities. Some are more obvious than others. The obvious ones include them being about war.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

sydneyhopcroft

25th of Mar 2012

Quality of writing

The Quality of Written Communication (QWC) is fair, though there are moments where comma splice lowers the QWC mark, as does capitalising words unnecessarily like "Onomatopoeia". Candidate should adhere to the standard of written grammar at all times in their English essays as English GCSE students.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is fair and indicative of a high C grade candidate for GCSE. The commentaries on the differences between the poems is extensive, if a little messy and not very well organised, and the similarities, though few, are identified and commented on at an acceptable length. There could be a better use of specialist terminology like "enjambment" and "Second Person address", and the conclusion provided doesn't appear to conclude much at all. Conclusions should aim to be quite a bit more substantial than what is given here, though be aware that no new ideas must be presented - only the tying together of ideas already explored should take place in the conclusions. To improve, the candidate should look to comment only on the things that the question directly asks for - identifying onomatopoeia does not win any marks as the phrase "rifle's rapid rattle" does not say much for Owen's attitude to war. Another thing that cost the candidate easy marks, is that they did not look at the titles at all. The titles say a lot about the poet's attitude to war. Owen calls the soldiers "doomed", as if it is their sole purpose in life to die on the battlefield. Whereas in comparison, Brooke calls his poem simply 'The Soldier', and what is written is a message that all "Soldiers" should aim to be just as the poet describes - there is no other alternative; it is very clear that to be a good soldier, young men must become Brooke's 'The Soldier'. This shows Owen's disgust for the meaningless loss of life and Brooke jingoism. Candidate should recognise that titles say a lot more than is first apparent - don't limit yourself to the poem itself.

Response to question

The response here is for a question that asks about the attitudes to War presented in Wilfred Owen's 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and Rupert Brooke's 'The Soldier'. The two poems varying greatly, but there are many similarities how each poets uses the sonnet structure. The candidate demonstrates a very good knowledge of both poems but appears to have trouble expressing themselves well, often saying things that are quite vague and do not capture the true essence of the poems. It is imperative that the candidates are clear with what they intend to say in their analysis, and this means that statements like "Wilfred Owen, describes war as a Ã¢â‚¬Å“die as cattleÃ¢â‚¬Â, being a slaughter, and a barbaric fight that if fought, you have no choice like the cattle in a slaughter house, to be killed (sic)" are not sufficient enough nor clear enough to score a high number of marks.

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