The Background
"Anthem for Doomed Youth" is a popular poem composed by Wilfred Owen in 1917. He wrote the poem as a patient in an Edinburgh hospital. While still in the hospital he became friendly with another poet, namely Siegfried Sassoon who later helped him to refine the poem. Here you will find the analysis of anthem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen.

The Structure
The poem Anthem for Doomed Youth is a lyric written in sonnet form. It has a noticeable rhyme scheme. The poet used images, metaphors, similes, figurative languages, symbols, and other literary devices in conveying his message.

The meaning
Wilfred Owen wrote the poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth" while undergoing a major treatment for the psychological trauma he suffered during the First World War. Horror of war is actually the succinct theme of the poem. The poet dedicated the second part of the poem to the funeral rituals suffered by individuals or families who lost their loved ones in the war.

The poem is written in form of a lament for the soldiers that lost their lives in the World War 1. The speaker in the poem wonders at the ritual that marks the death of the soldiers at the war front. He laments at the consequences of the soldiers’ death on their loved ones.

The poet uses the word "anthem" to recall the honor and glory of one’s national anthem. In most cases, soldiers who die in war are said to die for the sake of national honor. The poet has a different view. He says there’s no honor or glory in the death of any solder.

The sonnet poem is also an elegy for the dead. It portrays the images of dead and war at the first part or octave of the poem while he focused on more visual images at the second part or the sestet. He used specific images to signify death in the first eight lines of the poem. For him, the fallen soldiers or dead individuals only get the images as their reward.

Meanwhile, the poet goes on to say that religion cannot offer any solution to the destructive nature of war. For him, religion is powerless and helpless. He devoted the later part of the poem on religious images. One can easily discover the poem is also a comment on the poet’s rejection of his religion way back in 1915.

Also you might find interesting the recitation of Anthem for Doomed Youth