The LitCharts.com logo.

  • Ask LitCharts AI
  • Discussion Question Generator
  • Essay Prompt Generator
  • Quiz Question Generator

Guides

  • Literature Guides
  • Poetry Guides
  • Shakespeare Translations
  • Literary Terms

Anthem for Doomed Youth Summary & Analysis by Wilfred Owen

  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
  • Poetic Devices
  • Vocabulary & References
  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
  • Line-by-Line Explanations

anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" was written by British poet Wilfred Owen in 1917, while Owen was in the hospital recovering from injuries and trauma resulting from his military service during World War I. The poem laments the loss of young life in war and describes the sensory horrors of combat. It takes particular issue with the official pomp and ceremony that surrounds war (gestured to by the word "Anthem" in the title), arguing that church bells, prayers, and choirs are inadequate tributes to the realities of war. It is perhaps Owen's second most famous poem, after " Dulce et Decorum Est ."

  • Read the full text of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

The Full Text of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

1 What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

2       — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

3       Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

4 Can patter out their hasty orisons.

5 No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 

6       Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

7 The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

8       And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

9 What candles may be held to speed them all?

10       Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

11 Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

12       The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

13 Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

14 And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” Summary

“anthem for doomed youth” themes.

Theme Nationalism, War, and Waste

Nationalism, War, and Waste

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Theme Ritual and Remembrance

Ritual and Remembrance

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “anthem for doomed youth”.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

      — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.       Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;        Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

      And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?       Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.       The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Lines 13-14

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

End-Stopped Line

Personification, rhetorical question, “anthem for doomed youth” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Passing-bells
  • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Rhyme scheme, “anthem for doomed youth” speaker, “anthem for doomed youth” setting, literary and historical context of “anthem for doomed youth”, more “anthem for doomed youth” resources, external resources.

Poems in Response to Owen — A BBC show in which three contemporary poets respond to Wilfred Owen's poetry.

Learn More About War Poetry — A series of podcast documentaries from the University of Oxford about various aspects of World War I poetry, including some excellent material specifically about Wilfred Owen. 

More Poems and Biography — A valuable resource of Owen's other poetry, and a look at his life.

A Reading by Stephen Fry — Internationally famous actor, comedian,and writer Stephen Fry reads the poem (with a bugle call in the background). 

Bringing WWI to Life — In this clip, director Peter Jackson discusses his recent WWIfilm, They Shall Not Grow Old. Though technology, Jackson brings old war footage to vivid life, restoring a sense of the soldiers as actual people. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum Est

Mental Cases

Spring Offensive

Strange Meeting

The Next War

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

The LitCharts.com logo.

  • Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

IMAGES

  1. ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ by Wilfred Owen Free Essay Example

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

  2. Essay on Anthem For Doomed Youth

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

  3. Literary Analysis of “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen: [Essay

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

  4. The Books "The Man I Killed" by O'Brien and "Anthem for Doomed Youth

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

  5. Anthem for Doomed Youth Analysis

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

  6. Anthem For Doomed Youth Essay

    anthem for doomed youth essay 200 words

VIDEO

  1. ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH |SUMMARY FULL EXPLAINATION IN HINDI

  2. Invictus vs Anthem. A video essay and presentation

  3. Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

  4. Poem: Anthem for Doomed Youth

  5. "Anthem for doomed youth" MCQ question answer for cu under colleges 2 nd Semester students

  6. DRAMATIC SPEECH CHOIR