Can someone please tell me what the function of the semi-colon in line 5 is? Thanks for any help?

Anthem for Doomed Youth


by Wilfred Owen





What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?


Only the monstrous anger of the guns.


Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle


Can patter out their hasty orisons.


No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells,


Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -


The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;


And bugles calling for them from sad shires.





What candles may be held to speed them all?


Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes


Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.


The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;


Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,


And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Can someone please tell me what the function of the semi-colon in line 5 is? Thanks for any help?
it's use to connect two phrases together without putting them into 2 seperate sentence. the semi colon is use to connect an extra statment onto the first phrase
Reply:The semi-colon is used to divide two clauses, both of which make sense in their own right, but which also work as a single item.
Reply:It serves to separate two statements without breaking the line or making it into two separate sentences. The statements are connected but cannot flow into each other - thus a comma cannot be used.
Reply:to take a pause when reading it