“My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory the old lie Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”. These last few lines of Wilfred Owens Dulce et decorum est manifest Owens central concerns which are evident throughout his world war one oeuvre, the pity of war, this same concept can be derived from all of Owens war time poetry, two of such are anthem for doomed youth and insensibility which exemplify this concept. Though the study of these text it becomes clear that the pity of war is the central concept in which Owen seeks to convey.
The pity of war is an idea that is commonly associated with the loss of young lives. This is the key concept behind Owens Anthem for doomed youth which makes reference to the insignificants that surrounds a singular soldier. This idea comes to light in first line of the first stanza “These who die like cattle” utilising a simile Owen suggest the way in which soldiers are perceived, as replaceable commodities, this has an altering effect on the readers perception allowing them to see the truth, that these men are not revered, they are replaced. This concept in further explored in line five of the stanza this time Owen uses the repetition of n “...No prayers nor bells nor any voice of mourning...” this solidifies the idea in the mind of the reader previously suggested that soldiers are as cattle replaceable and unmourned. Stanza two sees Owen employ symbolism in the form of a rhetorical question “What candles may be held to speed them all?” the candle symbolises the rituals that usually transpire after ones death, so Owen is suggesting that there is no ritual for these men no mourning to be had simply forgotten in death. This portrays the idea of insignificance to reader showing the way the soldiers sacrifice is discarded and not remembered. This brings us to the last line of stanza two “and each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds” the perfect use of iambic pentameter allows the poem...