Wilfred Owens Anthem for Doomed Youth and Rupert Brookes The Soldier paint almost diametrically opposing

views on the same subject matter. Through different lenses, both reflect upon the dying of young soldiers in war. Anthem for Doomed Youth depicts dying in war as not only senseless, but also horrific. Owen mourns the manner in which these soldiers pass, and throughout the poem suggests that neither religious ceremony nor traditional funerary ritual can adequately mourn their deaths. Rather, only through facing up to the horrifying reality of the war and in the emotional bonds between people, can holiness exist, and only then can we do justice to their passing. On the other hand, laced with romantic idealism, The Soldier gives meaning to death in war by portraying it as patriotic and glorious. The poem sees the death of the soldier as something of cosmological importance and immortalizes the soldier in his undying love for England. Brooke lends support to the rather arrogant notion that a body of England and English national identity will shape and enrich the foreign soil in which the soldier lies. Thus, where Anthem for Doomed Youths mourns the meaningless deaths of soldiers, The Soldier celebrates death in war as part of a worthy cause, that is, dying for your country and the values your country stood for. That being said, both poems present their themes with a number of differences, the first of which is in terms of structure. Both Anthem for Doomed Youth and The Soldier are sonnets, which are traditionally grave and serious forms. Also, both show a gradual progression of theme in correspondence with the progression from octet to sestet. Anthem for Doomed Youths progresses from a battlefield scene in the first stanza, to a domestic scene in the second, with the last line of the first stanza linking both settings: bugles calling for them from sad shires. This change of setting is further emphasized with the progression of descriptions used, from imagery of sound in the first stanza, to imagery of sight in the second. For example, the first stanza describes the rattle of guns and the wailing of shells, while the second stanza focuses on visual imagery such as candles and flowers. The juxtaposition of the monstrous clamour of the battlefield with the quiet despair of the family serves to further emphasise the mood of the respective settings. The Soldier also shows progression in the poem, from the physical to the metaphysical. In the first stanza, the body of the soldier physically becomes part of the Earth, in a specific physical location, a corner of a foreign field. In the sestet, the entity of the soldier is likened to a pulse in the eternal mind, implying that his spiritual being, as shaped by England, has contributed somehow to the metaphysical realm. With this progression, we are reminded of the dual aspects to the soldiers existence. The bodily decomposition of the soldier gives the poem its realism, yet by pairing it with a notion of spiritual eternal existence, this death is given a sort of transcendence and immortality. Furthermore, the structure of The Soldier creates a circularity and symmetry of form. The first stanza of the poem describes how England gave, once to the soldier in life her flowers to love, her ways to roam, while the second stanza depicts how the death of the soldier gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given. This serves to depict the soldiers life as part of an ever-repeating cycle and a larger scheme of things, therefore further supplementing Brookes belief that the death of the soldier is justified as it pays back to the nation what the nation has contributed to the individual. Hence, due

to the duality of perspectives and the cyclical nature of The Soldier, the theme is holistically explored and effectively enhanced. It can be seen that while both poems experience subtle progressions, these shifts are different in nature and thus contribute differently to the poems. The poems can also be compared in terms of the language they employ. While The Soldier adopts a consistently grave and formal tone throughout the poem, Anthem for Doomed Youth begins with more explicitly angry and expressive language, gradually shifting to solemnity only in the second stanza. Let us first examine the differences in the first stanzas of the two poems. Anthem for Doomed Youth begins with a question- What passing bells for those who die as cattle? This first line alone already expresses outrage and revulsion for the dehumanization of soldiers in war. The sentence No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells has a falling cadence, therefore expressing pity in the way that it is read. Moreover, the use of repetition in stuttering rifles rapid rattle also increases the pace of the poem, expressing frustration and indignation. Hence we see that Owen is in no way willing to hold back his outrage at the way soldiers are treated in the war. The unrestrained anger of first stanza of Anthem for Doomed Youth is in sharp contrast to the relatively calm and contemplative tone of The Soldier. The sentences of the poem are punctuated with caesura, for example, If I should die, think only this of me and the full stop after for ever England. The caesurae give weight to the words directly preceding them, and also interrupt the flow of the poem, thus making for a slow and grave reading of the poem. However, Anthem for Doomed Youth progresses from anger to increasing sadness. Indeed, the absence of the violent imagery of sound (which permeates the first stanza) in the second part of the poem serves to create a situation that is quieter and more poignant than the first context. Furthermore, the diction employed is tender, rather than aggressive and the imagery employed softens. For example, the image of flowers being the tenderness of patient minds is a peaceful one. This tenderness and quietness of the second stanza is more readily likened to the tone of The Soldier, which is likewise permeated with such placid images of friends, dreams, laughter, and gentleness. The differences in language use serve to enhance both poems in unique ways. The gentle and placating tone of The Soldier is extremely befitting of its message that it is good to die in war- the general pleasantry of the language serves to neuter and conceal the horrors of war, painting a skewed and limited picture of war as righteous and dignified. Owens blatant expression of outrage and sadness works to the advantage of Anthem for Doomed Youth, stirring strong responses and rallying readers to his cause.