Anthem For Doomed Youth: Similes and metaphors

Wilfred Owen uses a lot of IMAGERY in the poem. Much of this takes the form of similes and metaphors.

Tip: In the exam, don't just use the word "imagery". Say which specific technique is being used - i.e. "Owen uses the metaphor..."

"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?" - SIMILE
This makes us think that the soldiers die as worthless as slabs of meat - like animals. It could connote that the soldiers are herded together in the trenches, like cows in a slaughterhouse. It could also mean that the soldiers are no longer thought of once they are dead.

"The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall" - METAPHOR
What Owen is saying here is that the soldiers don't get a funeral; they do not have a 'pall', or coffin-lining, as they don't have a coffin. Instead, the only indication that they are dead at all is the pale face of their mother, sister, daughter or girlfriend. Therefore, the pale face becomes the significant item here, as there is no material item.

"Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds" - METAPHOR
This is very much like the example above, only this time the flowers (which the soldiers don't get due to no funeral) are the memories that the families have. Instead of the material (flowers), the remembrance is shown in an abstract fashion - their minds.

"Each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds" - METAPHOR
I have had many different interpretations of this offered to me in class. I'll hand it over to you:

Xenan Letanka-Jeffs says: Pulling the blinds down and shutting out the outside world could indicate that the soldiers have died. It is like the end of the day; that is when you pull the curtains closed, but this time it is for good.

Ellis Carter says: It indicates to me that there is no happiness left at all. All of the good, the light, has gone. The 'blinds' are the nightfall, but the nightfall is actually the end of happiness.

Zaid Khayal says: It could mean that the end of every day, you try to forget what has happened by shutting it out. You 'pull the blinds down' over your memories.

All of these are examples of imagery and you should make an effort to write about them in your response.