Wilfred Owen\'s Anthem for Doomed Youth and Claude Mckay\'s if We Must Die

¶ … Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and Claude Mckay's "If we must Die."

This is a paper that compares and contrasts two poems on death and dying. It has 2 sources.

Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and Claude Mckay's "If we must Die" are two poems that share several similarities. They are both sonnets and pertain to struggle. They are both are set in different periods, but are set in the same century (1900s).

The sonnets, "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and "If we must Die" are set about fifty years apart in the 20th century, and they focus on the First World War and the Civil Rights movement respectively. Each of these poems has described the state of its characters very well because of the imagery in them. The words that are used in them rhyme very well too, which shows that the poets have been very selective. This can be said because of the fact that the rhyming words that have been chosen are ones that make complete sense and fit in well with the theme.

The theme in both poems is about death, and about the way that this death may come to people. Though the themes in both poems are about death, death is described in different contexts in each poem.

In Owen's poem death is described in relation to the services that the youth render in the armies. Death is focused on in the poem because of the fact that these young willingly give up their lives for their countries at the time of war leaving behind all those who weep for them. This is the reason why the poet includes the words, "The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall." These words are very real because of the fact that they represent all those whom these soldiers leave behind. Similar to these words are the words in Mckay's poem that state, "Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!" This is a real approach to what the poet has written about. It appears in both poems that the selection of words and verses are ones that are real and give the reader a good idea of what each poet feels for his subjects.

The way that these poems contrast is the approach to death that the poets have taken.

It appears that Owen sympathizes the way that the youth in an army lay down their lives for their countries. In fact the poet also realizes the way that these young people are so willing to do this, without looking back on what they leave behind. There are, "No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs," It is clear in the authors words that the soldiers are ready to give up their lives, and this is in contrast to what Mackay says in his poem. MacKay's words are more towards preparing what must be sacrificed rather than what soldiers are already doing in war.

The words in McKay's poem that advise the civil rights fighters are exemplified at the beginning of the poem: "If we must die, let it not be like hogs, Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot." This is contrast to the way that the Owen describes the soldiers already at war, sacrificing their lives willingly without being urged to do so.

Another difference between these two poems is the size of the oppressors in the struggle. Owen does not address this, but it is obvious that one army against another at war would be large enough to contend with its opposition. In contrast to this, McKay emphasizes that the oppressed "must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered."