I find it incredibly interesting that Wilfred Owen’s short biography before his poems makes it a point to emphasize that he was a very religious man. But I thought his first poem was honestly anything but promoting religion. In my reading of “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” I found it to be a criticism towards religion and the Homefront in general for responding to eminent death with bells or prayers. The line that stuck out to me the most was “No mockeries for them now; no prayers nor bells.” He quite clearly (in my read at least) equates prayers and bells to mockery. Owen says the soldiers “die as cattle” painting the picture that these people were just sent to the slaughter house by going to war. Maybe he feels the Homefront is what is making a mockery of religion and he thinks there is a different way to practice? I am not sure. But still the poem felt like more of a criticism towards religion then a praise. Especially the end where he mentions the blinds and how a new day is like the blinds coming down (symbolizing new found ignorance with each new day people seem to forget about the tragedies of war or the deaths). Just interesting.
2 thoughts on “Anthem for Doomed Youth”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I didn’t see it as a critique of religion; I actually saw it as a critique that there was NOT religion here. Funeral rites and prayers are often an important part of respect and grief, and the poem seems to be critiquing how these men, rather than dying like men and getting the respect and funerary rites owed to dead men, “die like cattle.” And then the second stanza talks about how there are too many to mourn properly and they’ll be forgotten before being properly mourned. And all of this dehumanization even after death is the fault of the war.
I can agree with Celementine, that there is a lack of “religion”. However, I think you are correct, Madi; there is a critique of essentially resorting back to “God has a plan for you,” which is the “demented choir of wailing shells” (153). There is a grief of other people, with the “drawing-down of blinds.” suggests there is greif from the homefront. However there is no…well…proper mourning. It does feel like Owen is wanting an honor of soilders death more than wanting religion of christianity in war. I would suggest he is critiqing the use of God being for war possibly…becayse…you know “god has a plan”