5. Anthem for Doomed Youth

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

5. Anthem for Doomed Youth

Wilfred Owen

Before we start

Let's see what you remember from the previous poems

Which of these poems did Wilfred Owen also write?

1. Dulce et Decorum Est
2. The Soldier
3. In Flanders Fields

Rank the poems from most negative to most positive.

Most negative

Most positive

Dulce Et Decorum Est

In Flanders' Fields

The Soldier

The poppies in In Flanders Fields are a symbol for:

Which sentence(s) in In Flanders Fields tell the reader to stand up against the enemy?

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

So, In Flanders Fields talks about death, but also about taking up the fight in honour of the dead

Let's move on to the next poem

Anthem for Doomed Youth

About the author

• Wilfred Owen
• 1893 - 1918
• Dulce et Decorum Est

Anthem for Doomed Youth is a Sonnet

1. YES
2. NO

Yes, it is a sonnet

A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines.

Let's read the text together.

What is the setting of the poem?

Setting:

• time: WWI
• place: both at home and at the front 

The first line of the poem contains a:

1. metaphor
2. simile
3. personification

Simile

Simile: a comparison using as or like

what passing-bells for these who die AS CATTLE?

Discuss together: what are soldiers compared to in the first line? 

Which funeral rituals are mentioned in stanza 1?

Rituals:

passing-bells

orisons

prayers

bells

choirs

Owen thinks these rituals are adequate forms of remembrance for the fallen soldiers

1. Yes
2. No

No

Owen thinks these rituals cannot cover the gravity of the young lives lost in the war

Stanza 2:

What candles may be held to speed them all?

-->

Which rituals can we perform to give the soldiers a proper goodbye?

"but in their eyes shall
shine the holy
glimmers of goodbyes"
What does this mean?

Possible answers:

tears of the soldiers in their eyes

the dying light of life in their eyes

Last few lines:

 “pallor of girls’ brows,” the “tenderness of patient minds,” and the “drawing-down of blinds” each day. 

Each of these, Owen suggests, is a more honest form of tribute.

I can analyse this poem myself.

YES

NO