its concluding image of dusk as a ‘drawing- Although the OED gives 1802 as the latest down of blinds’ was particularly evocative known usage, from James’ Military Dictionary, as it alluded to the common British practice the term was still current at the end of the of drawing window blinds to indicate that nineteenth century. or other structure used in fortification, sieges, When the poem was first published, in 1920, etc.
Doomed Youth’, ends with the poignant lines: The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall an alternative meaning of ‘blind’, derived from Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, 1 specialized military terminology, as: ‘a screen And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. September 2009 NOTES AND QUERIES 409 ‘A DRAWING-DOWN OF BLINDS’: there are strong secondary meanings to the WILFRED OWEN’S PUNNING poem’s last line, derived from alternative CONCLUSION TO ‘ANTHEM FOR meanings of the word ‘blind’, which link DOOMED YOUTH’ ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ more closely with Owen’s opposition to the war and WILFRED OWEN’s poem, ‘Anthem for European militarism. A Drawing-Down of Blinds: Wilfred Owen's Punning Conclusion to Anthem for Doomed Youth A Drawing-Down of Blinds: Wilfred Owen's Punning Conclusion to Anthem for Doomed Youth
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