Ling 131, Topic 1 (session B)

Anthem for the doomed youth

On this page we will explore the different meanings and effects created as Wilfred Owen moved from an earlier draft of his famous poem to the final draft. You can analyse the effects of the changes at different linguistic levels and then compare your analysis with ours.

In the final version of Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen

achieves an effect whereby the persona in the poem is apparently walking with us through a battlefield considering how the young men being killed at that moment will be laid to rest and remembered. This introduces a series of ironic and poignant comparisons between war, death and burial on the battlefield, and the rites of a peacetime funeral service.

We have included two versions of the WW1 poem, an early draft and the final version (see below).

An audio version of the final poem is also available.

Beginning with the title, we'd like you to look at each line of the poem in turn, and determine which aspects of language you think are being exploited in the changes from the earlier draft to the later one (we've highlighted these changes for you). Type your comments in the box provided and then submit your answer. You will then be able to compare your comments with ours. Do not attempt to provide a full stylistic analysis of the poem. Concentrate only on the parts which change from one version to the other. You can, however, comment on the rest of the poem when you feel it may help you to better understand the changes that were made to the final draft.

Anthem for Dead Youth

What passing bells for you who die in herds?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns!
- Only the stuttering rifles' rattled words
Can patter out your hasty orisons
No chants for you, nor balms, nor wreaths, nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning, save the choirs,
And long-drawn sighs of wailing shells;
The shrill, demented choirs

And bugles calling for you from sad shires.
What candles may we hold to speed you all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows must be your pall.
Your flowers, the tenderness of comrades' minds,
And each slow dusk, a drawing-down of blinds.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
- Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons
No mockeries now for them; nor 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;
Their flowers, the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

(Early draft)

(Final version)

(Wilfred Owen)

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