Comparison of "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and "The General""

Authors

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" -Wilfred Owen

-"The General" - Siegfried Sassoon

Structure

Length & Breaks

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" is short. It is 14 lines in total, with two stanzas. "The General" is also short. It is seven lines with two stanzas. Both are quite short poems which results from a very concise idea, in addition both are separated into two parts. However "Anthem for Doomed Youth" is more balanced between the stanzas while "The General" has a culminating single line stanza. Both of the final stanza however are smaller than the first stanza.

Rhyme

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" has a rhyme scheme, however it changes in the second stanza. In the first stanza it is ABABCDCD, but it changes to EFFEGG at the end. The final couplet helps wrap up the poem and at this point one of the larger ideas is described. "The General" has a more constant rhyme scheme. The entire poem is this ABABCCC. Like "Anthem for Doomed Youth" the final rhyme patter pulls the poem together and helps signal its close as well as emphasize the final idea presented. In "The General" the effect of the rhyming is that it makes the poem feel cheery which contrasts with the ideas presented. However the rhyming of "Anthem for Doomed Youth" does not have the same effect, it does however pull together some of the lines.

Allusions

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" alludes to religion. However when connecting to religion it is not in a very positive manner. EX: "No Mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells..." "holy glimmers of good-byes." "The General" alludes to a battle during WWI, the battle of Arras.