Wilfred Owen's Athem For Doomed Youth and Siegfried Sassoon's Picture-Show have a few similarities. First of all, they have a similar structure, then they share some similar dictional elements and last of all they talk about a similar theme.
Structure:
Wilfred Owen's Anthem For Doomed Youth has a weird structure. The first stanza is larger than the second stanza, containing 8 lines, while the second stanza has only 6 lines. It has an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme in the first stanza, and a different one in the second: ABBACC. This leaves the poem to having an overall attempted rhyme scheme. Every second line, including the last two lines begin half a centimetre before the other lines, giving them some special importance, as he doesn't do this in his poem 'Strange Meeting' for example.
Just like Anthem For Doomed Youth, Siegfried Sassoon's Picture-Show has an odd structure. The first stanza has 6 lines but the second stanza has only 4 lines. It seems as though it was in style to get away from the traditional stanzas that contained an equal amount of lines. Just like in Owen's poem, Picture-Show changes the rhyme scheme from first to second stanza. The first one goes: AABCBC and the second one: AABB, an heroic couplet. Both authors liked to play with an attempted rhyme scheme to convey a message or to portray a certain mood or idea. This poem starts its lines at the same level, so that must be something specific to Owen's poems.
Dictional elements
What was very recurrent in Anthem For Doomed Youth was the repition of the words 'Only' and 'no/nor'. He uses very powerful and dark diction to talk about the scenery, saying 'monstrous anger', 'stuttering', 'hasty orisons', 'shrill, demented choirs', 'sad shires' in the first stanza. Then in the second stanza he takes over a much softer diction, writing 'In their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers', 'their flowers the tenderness of mind'. Another element that stood out was alliterations. 'The stuttering rifles rapid rattle' is the main alliteration in the third line but there are also the 'sad shires', 'glimmers of good-bye' and the 'dusk a drawing-down'.
Picture-Show shares some of the dictional elements of Anthem For Doomed Youth. There is a repition of the word 'And' in terms of starting off an additional thought in a new line with this word: 'And still...', 'And still...' and 'And life...'. Both authors use this strategy to put emphasis on a certain idea or word. Repition of a word seemed to be a modern way of getting the most important ideas across. Sassoon uses rather neutral adjectives and descriptions in comparison to Owen. Instead of portraying something 'good' or 'bad', he describes a neverending cercle, using words such as 'come and go', 'endless picture-show', 'listless faces' and 'ever the same'. It can be said that when it comes to the use of diction, each poet has their own style of writing. Just like Owen, Sassoon likes alliterations such as 'faces flicker', but they're not as dominant as Owen's.
Theme:
Both poems are obviously about war.
Anthem For Doomed Youth is about death, as well as Picture-Show. They both share the notion of something passing by, in forms of bells or pictures. They're about people that pass by or away mentally and physically. They talk about loss and the pain it brings on their families and loved ones. Both authors have suffered through the war, and they've become close friends. They're styles of writing are similar to other WW1 poets, but they still guard their individuality.
Structure:
Wilfred Owen's Anthem For Doomed Youth has a weird structure. The first stanza is larger than the second stanza, containing 8 lines, while the second stanza has only 6 lines. It has an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme in the first stanza, and a different one in the second: ABBACC. This leaves the poem to having an overall attempted rhyme scheme. Every second line, including the last two lines begin half a centimetre before the other lines, giving them some special importance, as he doesn't do this in his poem 'Strange Meeting' for example.
Just like Anthem For Doomed Youth, Siegfried Sassoon's Picture-Show has an odd structure. The first stanza has 6 lines but the second stanza has only 4 lines. It seems as though it was in style to get away from the traditional stanzas that contained an equal amount of lines. Just like in Owen's poem, Picture-Show changes the rhyme scheme from first to second stanza. The first one goes: AABCBC and the second one: AABB, an heroic couplet. Both authors liked to play with an attempted rhyme scheme to convey a message or to portray a certain mood or idea. This poem starts its lines at the same level, so that must be something specific to Owen's poems.
Dictional elements
What was very recurrent in Anthem For Doomed Youth was the repition of the words 'Only' and 'no/nor'. He uses very powerful and dark diction to talk about the scenery, saying 'monstrous anger', 'stuttering', 'hasty orisons', 'shrill, demented choirs', 'sad shires' in the first stanza. Then in the second stanza he takes over a much softer diction, writing 'In their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers', 'their flowers the tenderness of mind'. Another element that stood out was alliterations. 'The stuttering rifles rapid rattle' is the main alliteration in the third line but there are also the 'sad shires', 'glimmers of good-bye' and the 'dusk a drawing-down'.
Picture-Show shares some of the dictional elements of Anthem For Doomed Youth. There is a repition of the word 'And' in terms of starting off an additional thought in a new line with this word: 'And still...', 'And still...' and 'And life...'. Both authors use this strategy to put emphasis on a certain idea or word. Repition of a word seemed to be a modern way of getting the most important ideas across. Sassoon uses rather neutral adjectives and descriptions in comparison to Owen. Instead of portraying something 'good' or 'bad', he describes a neverending cercle, using words such as 'come and go', 'endless picture-show', 'listless faces' and 'ever the same'. It can be said that when it comes to the use of diction, each poet has their own style of writing. Just like Owen, Sassoon likes alliterations such as 'faces flicker', but they're not as dominant as Owen's.
Theme:
Both poems are obviously about war.
Anthem For Doomed Youth is about death, as well as Picture-Show. They both share the notion of something passing by, in forms of bells or pictures. They're about people that pass by or away mentally and physically. They talk about loss and the pain it brings on their families and loved ones. Both authors have suffered through the war, and they've become close friends. They're styles of writing are similar to other WW1 poets, but they still guard their individuality.
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