Anthem for Doomed Youth - Structure

'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is a sonnet.

Sonnets are usually used as love poems, to show strong emotions and feelings. The poem is full of emotion, though these are negative - the sonnet is a great form to use here.

However, the most interesting thing is that the poem is split into two definite halves - the first stanza being angry, aggressive and full of onomatopoeia -

"rapid rattle"
"wailing"
"stuttering"

This almost puts us on the battlefield and straight into the action - we can almost hear the angry sounds of the guns and shells.

Owen also uses negative adjectives - descriptive phrases like "shrill, demented choirs" are unusual because they use juxtaposition (the putting together of opposite ideas). Choirs are normally beautiful - singing - but here, the falling bombs are the choir, and they are 'demented'.

What does demented mean? (Take a look in a dictionary if you don't know!)

The falling shells are the closest the soldiers hear to singing, and this is the backdrop to their day. The sounds are almost crazy; there is a connotation of being possessed by demons.

However, the second stanza is much calmer, and takes us back to the homes of the soldiers, and to the families, who are mourning their dead -

"what candles may be held to speed them all?"

This stanza uses much calmer, positive vocabulary -

"holy glimmers"
"shine"
"tenderness"

It shows the juxtaposition between the battlefield and the "shires" the soldiers left behind.