War Poetry

Summary: I am currently reading a book called Hemingway, A girl who lives near the troops who are going through a war finds cuteness in one young Italian man and watches them do drills and work daily. She lives in what seems to be a small town with lots of farmland and a place with lots of mountains. She is a nurse and the man got injured. She had to help him to become better and they had an affair with each other in Italy during WW1.  

Quotes: 

“The trucks splashed mud on the road and the troops were muddy and wet in their capes.”( Hemingway 4) - Imagery 

This quote helps me understand imagery and the scene more because I can picture them going down a dirt road and it being super muddy. This is an important quote because I think where they are fighting is wet, damp, sad, depressing so this just adds to the mix. This helped me understand their surroundings better and picture what is happening. 

“ The trees along the road had small leaves and a breeze came from the sea.” ( Hemingway 10)- Imagery

"A bottle of wine was good company.” (Hemingway 121)- Personification 

“I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.” ( Hemingway 6) -  Perspective, Character 

I think this quote helped me understand how fast time actually goes for the people in wars because they are so busy and focused on that one thing. This character feels like time is getting away from him and he isn't doing anything but in reality the troops are never getting a break so time flies away. This quote showcased the literary term character because it shows how he's feeling personally and for perspective it's how he views his life and the problem he is having. 

The overall message I've gotten from this section of the novel is that war is a difficult place but you can also meet good people and there are good parts of it too. 

In Camouflaging the Chimera, the most significant literary terms are Imagery and perspective.  These literary terms are the most significant because they really put the scary image of war into our brains. “We tied branches to our helmets. We painted our faces and rifles with mud from a riverbank.” (Komunyakaa 1-3)  This quote shows Imagery because it is telling us what someone had to do to hide in the war. We can imagine them using the mud to paint their faces to make them be able to hide. The Quote “We hugged bamboo and leaned against a breeze off the river, slow-dragging with ghosts,”(Komunyakaa 7) shows perspective. Perspective in this poem is very important. It puts the viewer in place of the setting and what's going on during wars. The message I took away from this poem was that war is a scary waiting game. You never know what will happen during it and it can be terrifying. 

In Redeployment, the most significant literary terms are personification and imagery. These terms are important to use in the poem because it shows us somewhat of the truth about war. Imagery really lets us see what someone is going through during war. “They say the war is over. But the water still comes bloody from the taps.” (Nemerov 1) This quote shows imagery. We can see that even though the war is over, the memory still haunts everyone who had to experience it. In the Quote, “And now there are cockroaches in the house, they get slightly drunk on DDT,” (Nemerov 11-12) It shows the aftermath of the war. DDT is a chemical and we can guess it's been left behind from the war. Personification is used many times in this poem and it helps us really be able to experience the consequences of war. It puts a different perspective on things. In this poem it implies that the man writing dies from war, so the message I took away from this poem is that war will be the end. 

In the poem Beautiful Wreckage by W.D Erhart, The two most significant literary terms I found were paradox and understatement. “What if none of it happened the way I said.”(Erhart 6-6) is an example of paradox because the character is contradicting themselves on whether what they saw was real or fake or if it even occurred in the first place. This quote helps me understand how deeply war can affect someone's conciseness and intermonolog. “Or what if the boy- but he didn’t have a grenade.”(Erhart 2-6) This is an example of understatement because even though he knew the boy didn't have a grenade he still killed him. He was saying what if the boy did have a grenade to make himself feel better about murdering an innocent child but unfortunately that was not the case, The overall message I gained from this poem is that war is arbitrary.

In the poem Redeployment by Harold Nemerov The two literary terms I found most prominent were imagery and character. Imagery is shown throughout the whole poem but the quote that stood out to me the most was… “I tried to wash the dirt out of/ My hair and from under my fingernails/ I dressed in clean white clothes and went to bed/ I heard the dust falling between the walls.”(Nemerov 4-4) This quote represents imagery because it describes a step by step on what the soldier is doing, at first it may look like nothing but when you look into it it's actually a tragic situation because he ends up talking his own life hence the “I heard the dust falling between the walls'' insinuating that he is underground. The quote I'll be using for character is “They say war is over/ but water still comes bloody from the taps and my cat/ in his disorder vomits worms which crawl swiftly away”(Nemerov 1-4). What the author did here was describe the abnormal behaviors the soldier has when he comes home to add it as a piece of his character, hinting that he isn't doing well mentally. What this helps me understand about war is that it is life changing and it never goes away even when you are at home it still lingers. 

In the poem Bosnia tune by Joseph Brodsky the two literacy terms that stuck out to me the most were juxtaposition and plot. The quote I will be using for juxtaposition is  “Time, whose sharp, blood-thirsty quill/parts the killed from those who kill/ will pronounce the latter tribe/ as your type.” (Brodsky 7-7)What the author is saying here is that soldiers are killed by not only their opponents but by the government who is supposed to be on their side. What this helps me understand is that war is untrustworthy and all you have is yourself and hopefully your coworkers, although they could also be unpredictable. My last quote will be for plot “People die as you elect new apostles of neglect, self-restraint, etc-- whereby people die” (Brodsky 4-7). The author is saying that as soldiers are out there dying the government is recruiting new soldiers to go to war and repeat the process. It is a never ending cycle. What this literary term helped me understand is that war is fatal and it is publicized that war is fatal so people know that going into war could very likely lead to death.

In the poem “Redeployment” by Harold Nemerov the most significant literary terms are Imagery and Understatement. 

The quote “But water still comes bloody from my taps” (Nemerov, line 1-2) is a hyperbole, because it is exaggerated that blood comes out of a tap. This quote help me to understand how brutal the war was. “I know a man who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps a soldier’s dead blue eyeball that he found somewhere” (Nemerov, line 6-9) this quote is an understatement, because a dead blue eyeball is not a nice present. This quote help me to understand that there were many dead soldiers that were just laying around and that nobody cares about the dead people in this war. 

The massage of this poem is : dead soldiers that were just laying around and that nobody cares about the dead people in this war. 

In the poem “Camouflaging the chimera” by Yusef Komunyakaa the most significant literary terms are personification and imagery.

The quote “blades of grass hung from the pockets of our tiger suits” (Komunyakaa, line 4-5) is an imagery, because he is describing what they are wearing. This quote helps me to understand that they are hiding somewhere. “We held our breath” (Komunyakaa, line 28) This quote is a point of view, because you can tell from which perspective this poem gets told. This quote help me to because, the first person view is realistic and helps me to understand in which situation they are. 

The message of this poem is: In war nature and people get once

In When I Am 19 I Was a Medic the two most significant literary terms were character and understatement. Medic is always worrying about who’s around him, and the safest approach he can take and he is always fearful an example of this from the poem is “All day I always want to know/ the angle the safest approach/I want to know the right time/ to go in who is in front of me and behind me/”(Brown 1-5).  Showing that the medic is in an active war zone and fearing for his life, Another example in the poem of the soldier being fearful is “I sleep strapped to my .45”(Brown 12). Showing that he always has his rifle with him And that he always has his rifle by his side and I believe that is an example of understatement because he is having to always carry his rifle because he’s scared for his life. And this literary term helped me understand that these people become numb to things. This helped me understand the point the author was trying to get across that war is full of fear and danger.

In the poem by Joseph Brodsky repetition and metaphor are the main literary devices I found The first quote is an example of repetition because it really makes the reader get into the head and understand that “People die”(Brodsky 4) and understand that war is death as it is repeated almost every 5 or so lines in the poem showing that the author wants to you to pay attention to it and it really helped me find the message the poem was trying to portray.

The second quote is an example of a metaphor “Where cherubs dread to fly”(Brodsky 19 ) is a metaphor for danger because it is saying that not even angels want to fly there and no one wants to be there. These quotes help the reader understand the point the author was trying to get across through their text. And the idea I believe the author is trying to get across about war is that war is full of death. 

In the poem beautiful wreckage by W.D. EHRHART, the two most significant literary terms I found were understatement and imagery. 

“Quote #1” is an example of understatement because they explained a scenario as if it wasn't a big deal, but it should have been made a big deal. “What if i didn't shoot the old lady/ running away from our patrol,/ or the old man in the back of the head,/ or the boy in the marketplace?”(W.D.EHRHART 1-4). This is an understatement because he says it like it was nothing, like nothing even happened and like it wasn't that big of a  deal that he did any of that. 

“Quote #2” is an example of imagery because he explained in enough detail where you can picture exactly what is happening. “Or what if the boy-but he didn't/ have a grenade, and the woman in Hue/ didn't lie in the rain  in a mortar pit/ with seven Marines just for food,”(W.D. EHRHART 1-4). He explained where they were and what they did to a point of being able to feel like you are part of it.

Theme: War is hard to let go of.

In the poem redeployment by Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms I found were imagery and understatement. 

“Quote #1” is an example of imagery because Harold explained in deep detail about somebody he knows enough that anybody can imagine what it looks like. “I know a man/ who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps/ a soldier's dead blue eyeballs that he found/ somewhere-- hard as chalk, and blue as skate.”(Nemerov 6-9). This is imagery because no matter who reads this poem they would be able to imagine what he is explaining. 

“Quote #2” is an understatement because he explained something in a way that made it sound like it was nothing, like it was an everyday recurrence. “But water still/ comes bloody from the taps,and my pet cat /in his disorder vomits worms which crawl/ swiftly away.”(Nemerov 1-4). This is an understatement because he said it with not much emotion, like it wasn't a big deal, or like it's an everyday thing. It isn't a normal thing. This quote could have also been imagery because of how detailed it was explained.

Theme: War is traumatic. 

In the poem “Redeployment” by Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms I found were character and Imagery. “They say the war is over. But water still/Comes bloody from the taps.” (Nemerov 1-2). This quote shows character because it makes you better understand that this person is suffering from ptsd. “And now there are cockroaches in the house.” (Nemerov 1). This quote shows imagery because it gives you an idea what kind of home the soldier is living in. It relates a little bit towards character because you know that he's not living his best life and that he is poor.

In the poem “The Last Lie" by Bruce Weigl, the two most significant terms I found were repetition and simile. “Who called us for food.” (Weigl 24). This quote shows repetition because throughout the poem the kids keep asking for food. “And the guy with me laughed/And fingered the edge of another can/Like it was the seam of a baseball.” (Weigl 19-21). This quote shows simile because it uses the word like to compare two different things.

In the poem Redeployment by Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms that I found were Metaphor and Character. “They say the war is over/But water still comes bloody from the taps.” This quote is an example of Metaphor because even though the war is over, it still affects everyone differently. (Nemerov 1-2) “I know a man who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps a soldier's dead blue eyeballs…hard as chalk and blue as skate. He clicks them in his pocket. This quote shows Character because the man who keeps the eyes of a soldier is a reminder of what he went through, they could be from a soldier he killed or from a fallen comrade, it is a reminder that he is still alive and war is over. (Nemerov 7-10) These two terms helped me understand the message of the poem of the fact that everyone experiences and copes with war differently. This is because war can still stay with people over time and some keep reminders of their past in war. The character literary term helped show this the most. 

In the poem The Last Lie by Bruce Weigl, the two most significant literary terms I found were Imagery and Repetition. “I could still see her when she rose/Waving one hand across her swollen, bleeding head, Wildly swinging her other hand/At the children who mobbed her, Who tried to take her food. This quote is an example of Imagery because it shows how the author saw the child after the food had been thrown at them. (Weigl 9-14) “Again into the faces of children/Who called to us for food.” This quote shows repetition because the person the author is with has thrown the food at the children like this multiple times and will again. (Weigl 23-24) Both of these terms helped me understand the message of the poem that war can be cruel in many different ways. This is because even the children had to fight in some way, over food which was thrown forcefully into their heads. The literary term of Imagery helped me understand this the most.

In the poem Bosnia Tune by Joseph Brodsky, the 2 main literary terms that I discovered were Imagery and Repetition.

“In the towns with funny names hit by bullets.” (Brodsky 5-6). I saw Imagery in this quote, I say this because Brodsky really emphasizes how we all look on the news and see the foreign towns that you never hear of being shot or attacked by militias.

The second Lit term I found was Repetition. ¨people die… people die…people die… people die… people die… people die¨ (Brodsky 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). That phrase was used in six different instances of the poem, all occurring at the end of every single line. I think Brodsky strategically put it there for the sole reason of emphasizing that people die every single day as you go about your regular life. And with the idea that the more it is repeated, the more it is ingrained into your memory.

In the poem Beautiful Wreckage by W.D Ehrhant. The 2 main Lit terms I discovered were Character and Understatement.

 “What if none of it happened the way I said it/would it all be a lie” (Ehrhrant 21-22). This line really sticks a spearhead in your heart, and why I say this is it shows how much character is being shown in just 2 sentences, now with that being said. It really exemplifies the Soldiers Derealization of his unchangeable and regrettable past. 

 In the quote ¨What if I didn't shoot the old lady running away from our patrol, or the old man in the back of the head, or the boy in the marketplace?¨ (Ehrhant 1) Understatement is being projected. Ehrhant rolled through this line as if it were a normal thing. I assume the Character has been through situations like this before, and Ehrhant is rolling past that to strike curiosity in the reader.

The Ultimate message I picked up from war from the 2 poems is that War is Repetitive and strikes conflict in every victim of its grasp.

The two poems I will be analyzing are “Beautiful Werckage” By W.D Ehrhart and “Redeployment” By Harold Nemerov. In “Beautiful Wreckage” the literary term that is used the most in this poem is Imagery. Imagery is used by the descriptions of these warzones and the conditions that they were living in. It creates a mental image in someomes head so they could easily imagine what Vietman was like without even seeing it, just through descriptions. “the woman in Hue didn’t lie in the rain in a mortar pit with seven Marines just for food” (Ehrhart 5-8) The other literary term being heavily used is Flashback. “Gaffney didn’t get hit in the knee, Ames didn’t die in the river, Ski didn’t die in a medevac chopper between Con Thien and Da Nang. (Ehrhart 9-12) This is helping you imagine the person that experienced this thinking about these, repleaying it in their heads imagining if it had went differently and the people that they cared about didint get killed in front of them. Overall the literary terms helped me understand that the message about war is war is brutal. The writer wanted  the reader to imagine these places and actions very vividly, so he used imagery and flashbacks to convey them.

In “Redeployment” By Harold Nemerov. One of the literary terms being used is Imagery. “But water still Comes bloody from the taps, and my pet cat In his disorder vomits worms which crawl Swiftly away. Maybe they leave the house. These worms are white, and flecked with the cat’s blood.” (Nemerov 1-5) The descriptions of the bloody tap water, the cat vomiting worms that are covered in the cat’s blood. This is transporting you to this person’s head where they are seeing all of this and we are getting the descriptions of it. Having detail descriptions helps to imagine what things look like more. The other literary term being used is Metaphor. “I heard the dust falling between the walls.” (Nemerov 20) This is representing how the soldiers were always aware of their surroundings no matter what so they could hear every little sound imaginable. Still being able to hear that for them is like them still feeling like they are there. Overall the literary terms helped me understand that the message about war is that war leaves trauma on people. This is shown through the man that keeps the soilders eyeballs as a souviner.

Redeployment 

The two important literary terms in this poem are imagery and understatement. These two are the most important things in this poem, because the things like they are these simple everyday problems that can be ignored but they are big things that he has just grown used to overtime “My pet cat/ In his disorder vomits worms which crawl/ swiftly away. Maybe they leave the house.”-  (Nemerov 2-4)understatement.    The other literary term imagery is just as important as understatement because they are Similarly tied together, he even kinda makes a joke out of it by saying “And now there are cockroaches in my house,/ they get slightly drunk on ddt,/ are fast, hard, Shifty -- can be drawn but not/ without you holding them under for quite some time.” (Nemerov 11-14)  war is so unforgiving and depressing 

Bosnia tune 

The literary terms that are important to this poem are Repetition and plot. These are important to this poem because it sets up the image that war never ends. Repetition is important because it makes a point that no matter what you're doing or what's happening in the world, people will die; “people die.”(Brodsky 4) plot because it tells about different things that are happening well people die like “people die as you elect/ new apostles of neglect,/ self-restraint, ect. --whereby/ people die.”(Brodsky 13-16) this life is never ending and yet people die around us everyday. 

In the poem Redeployment  by Harold Nemerov, the two most important literary terms I found were imagery and understatement. 

“The war may be over. I know a man/ Who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps/ A soldier’s dead eyeballs that he found/ Somewhere--hard as chalk, and blue as skate./ He clicks them in his pockets when he talks/” (Nemerov 6-10). This quote is an example of imagery, because it gives me a clear image of a man finding, taking a dead set of eyeballs. As well as the man clicking them in his pocket as he talks. Nemerov also gives a good description of what this set of eyeballs looks like, and it gives us a clearer picture in our minds. This helped me understand that from the author's perspective war can feel endless . From the author's point of view it seems that he still feels like the war is going on despite the fact that it is over. The message I took from this is that war is conflicting. 

“And now there are cockroaches in the house,/ They get slightly drunk on DDT,/ Are fast, hard, shifty--can be drowned but not/ Without you hold them under for quite some time./ People say the Mexican kind can fly” (Nemerov 11-15). This quote is an example of understatement, because these five lines are very confusing, unclear, and give us confusing information without any explanation. Those few lines go from talking about cockroaches to the Mexican with no explanation. However this helped me understand the author's point of view that he can’t fully understand everything that is going on. From the author's perspective the war's aftermath is taking a confusing toll on him. 

The message I took away from the poem Redeployment  by Harold Nemerov, is that war can be very conflicting. 

In the poem Bosnia Tune by Joseph Brodsky, the two most important literary terms I found were repetition and plot. 

“People die” (4). This quote is an example of repetition because this same phrase is repeated on line four, eight, twelve, thirteen,  sixteen, twenty, and twenty two.  This shows that the phrase “people die” is something the author wants to put emphasis on. This helped me understand the author's perspective that war is an unfortunate event where people die. From the author's perspective when it comes to war the main thing he thinks about is that people die, because he repeats it over and over. 

“People die as you elect/ new apostles of neglect,/ self-restraint, etc.--whereby/ people” (Brodsky 13-16). This quote is an example of plot, because someone is being elected that is neglectful and it’s causing people to die. This helped me understand the author's perspective on war that wrong decisions are being made, and it’s causing unnecessary death. From the author's perspective he doesn’t agree with this new elected leader and the chaos it’s causing. 

The message I took away from the poem Bosnia Tune by Joseph Brodsky, is death is the unfortunate reality of war.  

In the poem “Redeployment” by Harold Nemerov, the two most important literary terms I found are simile and Hyperbole. 

My first quote shows an example of a simile because he is describing a dead soldier's eyeballs. He explains that he knows a man who keeps them as a souvenir.  “I know a man/ Who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps/ a soldier’s dead blue eyeballs that he found/ somewhere-- hard as chalk, and blue as skate.” (Nemerov 6-9) this helped me understand how long it has been since the war and his memories. War made him reminiscent. It shows me that war for the author means painful memories. 

Quote number two is an example of a metaphor because he is explaining a nonrealistic scene. He is showing how the war is still affecting him. “I tried to wash the dirt out of/ My hair and from under my fingernails,” (Nemerov 17-18) this shows that he is still imagining the war, and that war is everlasting in the mind. Overall the message of the poem is that war is everlasting in the mind and that it doesn’t go away just because it’s over. 

In the poem “The Last Lie” by Bruce Weigl, A child waves her hand for food, and a soldier in a truck heaves it at her head, making her bleed. Both parties laugh for different reasons. The soldier keeps doing it. The child fights siblings for food. This poem is written in 1st person. The most important quotes I found were juxtaposition and irony. 

My first quote is an example of juxtaposition because the girl is grinning about getting food, while the soldier in the truck watched his fellow soldier heave it. Grit his teeth remembering it. They both saw and experienced the same thing, but have different reactions to it. “I grit my teeth to myself to remember that girl/ smiling as she fought off her brothers and sisters.” ( Weigl 14-15) 

My second quote is an example of irony because in the situation, it was a bad thing that happened. The irony of it is that the girl was grinning about it. “She laughed/ as if she thought it were a joke.” (Weigl 17-18)

The overall message of this poem is that war causes the suffering of civilians. War creates monsters.

In the poem Camouflaging the Chimera the two most important literary terms are juxtaposition and imagery. “The river ran through our bones. / Small animals took refuge against our bodies; / we held our breath,” (Komunyakaa 25-27). This is imagery depicting a scene that could be assumed as the dying soldiers or the already dead soldiers. The quote describes ways their bodies are becoming one with the land, leading to a belief that they have passed. This shows how little the effect of a single soldier is as the death goes unnoticed by everything but the environment. “As a world revolved under each man’s eyelid.” (Komunyakaa 30). This is a juxtaposition symbolizing how the world keeps moving forward even with everything that goes on. Nothing and no one can dictate that. This helps show how not one soldier can make a change, as the world still goes on. The overall message is that not a single soldier can make a difference.

In the poem The Last Lie by Bruce Weigl, the two most important literary terms are character and imagery. “I could still see her when she rose, / waving one hand across her swollen, bleeding head,” (Weigl 9-10) This is an example of imagery as it descriptively describes the injury that the child received from the can thrown at her. This shows the damage that one soldier's irresponsible anger can cause. “Until his rage ripped again / into the faces of children / who called to us for food.” (Weigl 21-23). An example of the character of the soldier. His anger which is bottled up from war unleashed onto the children for simply asking for food. This is double sided as he does give the food but still in a way not suitable. This showcases the soldiers' anger. The overall message is that due to war soldiers emotions and anger become stowed away to be released.

In the poem Beautiful wreckage by W.D. Ehrhart, the two most significant literary terms I found were imagery and plot. “In Vietnamese,Con Thien means / place of angels. What if it really was /instead of the place of rotting sandbags, /incoming heavy artillery, rats and mud.”(Ehrhart 13-16). is an example of imagery because it’s showing a very detailed and vivid image of war and side effects. This helped me understand how war is impacting this character. It shows me that the author thinks war can change people for the worst. “What if I didn’t shoot the old lady / running away from our patrol. / or the old man in the back of the head, or the boy in the marketplace?” (Ehrhart 1-4) Is an example of plot, because this sets up what the “poem” will be about and what the character is thinking about. Overall the message of the poem seems to be war is bad.