revision sheet bullet points analysis of ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH by Wilfred Owen

bullet point revision sheet on Wilfred Owen’s poem Anthem For Doomed Youth GCSE

AN EXCERPT:

1. The image of the soldiers saying their hurried prayers in the face of imminent death shows us how Owen is not only criticising war but that his criticism is also directed at religion. This sentiment is also expressed in Owen’s poem ‘Exposure’ wherein he states “For love of God seems dying”. The Christian faith of course advocates a faith that God is present in adversity. In Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my shepherd…’ the words “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me”. Owen is showing how the horrors of war quickly dispel man’s faith in God. There is no solace, there is no comfort in this “valley of the shadow of death”.