Anthem for the Doomed Youth

The Octet : What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns,
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle,
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers or bells.
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them sad shires
*Vocabulary:
*anthem → a military or a national song. *doomed → condemned to some fate (death).
*monstrous → outrageously wrong or absurd.
*stuttering → stammering, unable to talk properly. *rifles → hand held guns
*rattle → the sound made by a series of short sharp knock.
*patter → repeat in a sharp and mechanical way *orisons → prayers
*mockeries → false representation *mourning → grieving for a dead person
*choir → group of trained singers in a church *shrill → high sound
* wailing → making a long moaning sound when grieving *demented → mad
*bugles → horns *shire → counties

Paraphrase:
Where are the bells that should announce the death of these soldiers? Their death
is like the death of animals. The only sound that declares their death is the angry roar
of the guns. The sound of the rifles' rapid firing is what they will hear instead of last
prayers. Do not mock them now with the rituals of normal death; the prayers of the
bells. And instead of the voices of the choir singing for them there will be the shrieking
sound of the bursting shells; and the sad sound of horns of the British countryside
calling to them.
The Sestet
What candles may be held to speed them all,
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes,
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
*Vocabulary:
*glimmers → lights *pallor → pale colour
*pall → cloth of white velvet spread over coffin *drawing down → lowering
*dusk → the beginning of nightfall. *blind → screens for windows.

Mr. Mokhtar. 01221700672 |1

Paraphrase:
Where are the candles that are lit at funerals? There will be no candles but their
love will shine in the eyes of the boys. Their only pall will be paleness of girls' and faces
at the news of their death. The only flowers to laid on their coffins will be gentle
unspoken thoughts of those left behind. And, as houses own their blinds as a sign of
mourning, the world will mourn when darkness reigns at the close of every day.

*Literary terms:
-(What passing…what candles…) rhetorical questions…a question that doesn't expect
an answer to attract the readers' attention.
-(Monstrous guns…) personification the poet compares the guns to an angry person
-(Stuttering rifles…) Personification the poet compares the rifles to a person talking
with difficulty.
-(Shrieking shells…) personification the poet compares the shells to mad people.
-(Bugles calling…) personification the poet compares the horns to people speaking
and calling the dead soldiers.
-(Rifles rapid rattle…) Alliteration the repetition of the sound /r/
-(But in their eyes…) Metaphor the poet compares the eyes to candles with light.
-(Shall…shine…) Alliteration the repetition of the sound /sh/
-(Pallor…pall...) Alliteration the repetition of the sound /p/
-(Their flowers the tenderness…) The poet compares the thoughts to flowers.
-(Each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds…) Metaphor, the poet compares the dusk
to blinds blocking light.
-(Dusk...drawing…) Alliteration the repetition of the sound /d/
Commentary:
The poem is a sonnet consisting of an octet and a sestet (a stanza of eight lines
followed by a stanza of six lines) each beginning with a question. The octet is devoted to
the sound of surrounding death; the sestet to its visual actions.
The first line of the octet leaves us in no doubt as to the attitude of the poet
towards death in battle. He likens the death of the soldiers to that of animals. The
comparison which cattle brings out at least three points about war death:
1-That the soldier often does not understand what it is he is dying for.
2-That the soldiers die in great numbers.
3-That these lost lives are treated by responsible officials as having little value.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is :

A B, A B , C D , C D , E F, F, E, G G.

Mr. Mokhtar. 01221700672 |2