Anthem for Doomed Youth the first line of the poem: "What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?" The third album by British band The Libertines is named "Anthems For Doomed Youth", and features a song of the same name. American composer Stephen Whitehead included an orchestral setting of "Anthem for Doomed Youth" as a movement in his orchestral piece "Three Laments on the Great War" for soloists and orchestra. The piece is scored as a duet for mezzo-soprano and bass/baritone with orchestra. Anthem for Doomed Youth "Anthem for Doomed Youth" is a well-known poem written in 1917 by Wilfred Owen. It incorporates the
Carol of the Bells because the melody reminded him of hand bells, which begins "Hark! How the bells". It was first aired during the Great Depression, and Wilhousky copyrighted the new lyrics in 1936 and also published the song, despite the song having been published almost two decades earlier in the Ukrainian National Republic. Its initial popularity stemmed largely from Wilhousky's ability to reach a wide audience as his role as arranger for the NBC Symphony Orchestra. It is now strongly associated with Christmas because of its new lyrics, which reference bells, caroling, and the line "merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas". An English variant,