Owen uses a contrast within the title , “ Doomed Youth” , he does this deliberately because using “ doomed youth” , puts the young people of war and he try’s to discourage them as it is nothing like what the propaganda claim it to be. The first question highlights animal imagery , “ dying like cattle” , this shows the soldiers are nameless. There death lacks dignity , dehumanised. Personification is used to mirror the guns , “ anger of the guns” , in the noun phrase it makes the guns sound real. Owen uses alliteration to create the stark contrast between the notion of the solemn funeral and the reality of the battlefield, “ rifles, rapid rattle”, mirrors the incessant raging of the guns that do not pause when a soldier looses his life. The whole stanza demonstrates a parody of an ordinary funeral , with the “ wailing choirs”, the term “ wailing” , is used to create a sound of weeping , emphasising sadness.
The reader is immersed into the cacophony of the battlefield allowing us to vividly imagine the experience of a soldier loosing his life. Owen is clearly conveying an image devoid of the dignity and honour promised in the various guises of the propaganda urging the men to fight.
The mood of the Octet is dominated by Owen’s anger of the Propaganda; the cacophony of sounds is reinforced by the personification of the guns and the transferred epithet, “ monstrous anger”. Owen clearly highlights his disgust at the jingoistic parades and memorials in the line, “ no mockeries now for them”. The propaganda machine that fed lives and false hopes to the man and families. Through the use of sibilance, “ sad shires” , Owen creates a real sense of melochancy.
In the last stanza , Owen says “ but in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of good- byes. The pallor of girls brows shall be their pall”. Here Owen illustrates the families reactions to finding that their loved ones as died. The dead soldiers do not get to be honoured by their family and friends, but all the family can do is grieve at the sorrowful news. Owen communicates how depressing war is by making an effective comparison that the readers can relate to.
Owen refers to a funeral on a regular basis , “ Their flowers the tenderness of patients minds” , the word “ tenderness” makes it seem like a quite acceptance. It could be that our speaker is holding up tender, patient minds in contrast to those who are all eager and excited about war. In that way, this line could be telling us that the only positive tribute to the dead soldiers comes from the tender thoughts and concerns of those who have more patient, sensitive minds. Those who are really concerned about their safety and the danger they’re in, and mourn their losses.
Owen started the first stanza with a rhetorical question and has started the second stanza with another rhetorical question , “ What candles may be held to speed them all?”. We think of the candles as a metaphor of the larger ceremonies we hold when attempting to honour those killed in action. However we are pretty sure that there is not a special candle that we can light back to home to help the soldier and his family in anyway.
Finally , Owen ends on a rather sad , and depressing note , “ And each slow dusk , a drawing down of blinds” , through the word “ slow , it reflects the way the poem has been slowing down throughout the second stanza with this last line being the slowest and quietest of them all. The pacing is enhanced by the fact this line , unlike many of the ones that have become before is written in the perfect iambic pentameter. The meter gives the line a sombre cadence ; It really works well. The “ drawing down of the blinds” , certainly connotes death. The families that have lost the young men are the ones closing the blinds , as a sort of matching image to the closing and ending of a life.
