Anthem for Doomed Youth

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1920

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Dusk

A symbol is an image that appeals to one or more of the senses, but suggests another level of meaning, often something more abstract than the actual image. An image of the sun can symbolically convey the notion of rebirth, for example. In this poem, however, the symbols are grimmer. In Line 14, for example, “dusk,” the time of day when darkness approaches, symbolizes both death and mourning. Dusk represents not only the untimely snuffing out of so many young lives during the war but also the darkness that has come into the lives of the bereaved, which descends night after night at the “drawing-down of blinds” (Line 14). The latter phrase can be taken to symbolize the shutting out of the external world as part of the ritual of private grief.

Candles and Flowers

Candles, mentioned in Line 9, are often used in Christian worship, including funerals. As lights shining in the darkness, they symbolize the light of god, the light of Christ, or can simply symbolize hope and remembrance. In this poem, however, Owen draws attention to what he sees as the limitations of such symbolism. Much more potent is the light in the eyes of the boys—brothers or sons—mourning a loved one. The traditional symbolism is therefore deliberately undercut.

Flowers and funeral wreaths were, and still are, common at funeral services; they also symbolize remembrance. Again, however, in this poem the traditional symbolism is found wanting. The dead must live on in “patient minds” (Line 13), the speaker says, long after the flowers have faded.

Bugle

In Line 8, “bugles” call for the soldiers from the “sad shires” in England. The bugles may be calling for the men to return home but are more likely part of a remembrance service in the country for whose cause they fought. Like candles and flowers, bugle calls have symbolic dimension. They symbolize death and represent remembrance. In Great Britain, the bugle plays the “Last Post” at funerals and military ceremonies as a final goodbye to the fallen men. (The “Last Post” is similar to “Taps”—the equivalent American bugle call.)