Abstract
Wilfred Owen’s famous “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is often read as a critical response to the elegiac tradition. However, a close comparison with Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard” reveals a surprising amount of continuity and common language. Both poets capture the plight of those who have been forgotten or have been condemned to die a meaningless death. Both stress the poignancy of the ephemeral expressions of grief on the faces of loved ones. By contrast, traditional forms of commemoration feel increasingly hollow and inadequate. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is therefore much more than an anti-elegy. Since the genre inherently questions the limits of its own usefulness, Owen builds on the work of previous poets, including Gray.
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