Mini essay

Analyse how Wilfred Owen conveys his beliefs and attitudes towards the
war in Anthem for Doomed Youth.

In the poem Anthem for Doomed youth written by Wilfred Owen, Wilfred describes the
different attitudes he had towards world war one. His first impression of war was that it is
something to take pride in, however when he got to see the horrors that war actually was he
changed his mind. In this line Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering
rifles' rapid rattle. Can patter out their hasty orisons., he talks about how the sound of guns
and death diminishes the people who have been praying at home. He writes about how the
soldiers die in big numbers and that when they do die they die as cattle, meaning that their
names are unknown and they are not commemorated or remembered. What candles may
be held to speed them all? The message behind this line is that there are not enough
prayers for the thousands of lives that have been lost in the war, not all of them would be
commemorated. His impression of war changed massively after firsthand witnessing the
horror and mass death that occurred. He uses different forms of language features to tell
different parts of his horrific experience. He uses personification in this line, T he shrill,
demented choirs of wailing shells to emphasize the noise that they make as they whizz
through the air. Choirs are often calm and peaceful, however Wilfred Owen contradicts this
idea by using the words shrill and demented. He is showing that war is anything but calm
and peaceful. Personification is also used in this line, Only the monstrous anger of the
guns to emphasize how often the guns are being used and the hatred within the person
behind the gun itself. The poem itself is mostly written in iambic pentameter which is a
fourteen-line poem with a rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD EFFEGG