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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading