War Poetry Response

In the poem Redeployment By Harold Nemerov, the two most important literary terms I found were Imagery and Juxtaposition. A quote that I saw imagery in was "I took it quietly enough. I tried to wash the dirt out of my hair and from under my fingernails... I heard the dust falling between the walls." 

A quote that I found for Juxtaposition is "The war may be over. I know a man who keeps a pleasant souvenir." These quotes help me understand the poem a little better because it shows me war through different perspectives and it is also sending the message that war stays with you even after you leave.

In the poem Bosnia Tune By Joseph Brodsky, the two most important literary terms I found were repetition and understatement. A quote that I saw repetition in was after sentence it would say "people die" and this is repetition because it continues to repeat that word over and over.

The next literary term is an understatement and I found that in this quote, "As you watch the athletes score, check your latest statement, or kiss your child a lullaby, people die.” This Juxtapsistion because it is two things that are contradicting at the same time. These quotes help me understand there is always going to be conflict and war. Even when we are protected in our homes somewhere there’s war and somewhere out there people are dying.

In the poem “Bosnia Tune” By Joseph Brodsky the two most prominent literary terms i found were repetition and juxtaposition, the two going hand and hand in this poem. “..or kissing your child a lullaby,/people die” (Brodsky) This line is an example of repetition, as all but one stanza contain the “people die” line at the end. “As you sip your brand of scotch/crush a roach or scratch your crotch/as your hand adjusts your tie/people die” (Brodsky) This line is an example of juxtaposition, because it is showing two sides, how while you are doing this or that, people are dying. These two terms show the message of how life goes on, that death is inevitable. That life goes on and so does war.

In the poem “Beautiful Wreckage” by W.D Ehrhart, the two most prominent literary terms were paradox and juxtaposition. “What if none of it happened the way I said?/Would it all be a lie?/Would the wreckage suddenly be beautiful?/Would the dead rise up and walk?” (Ehrhart) This stanza is an example of a paradox, making us re think the whole poem, about what the author said. And how would people who were dead suddenly be alive, how would wreckage be beautiful? “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) The 4th stanza is an example of juxtaposition. Comparing the name and it’s meaning, to what actually goes on in that place. I think the message is that you will do things you regret, how the person in this poem regrets his actions and fantasizes about the reality not being so harsh. That in war you will have regrets and guilt.

Bosnia Tune is a great example of juxtaposition because in almost every stanza there is the juxtaposition of everyday life, and people dying and is also a good example of perspective because the author often shows little tidbits of his perspective on the conflict that they were in. “People die as you elect new apostles of neglect, self-restraint, etc.--whereby people die.” This quote is an example of juxtaposition and perspective because the people he is describing are electing people as people die, and the perspective part shows that the author believes that people are electing bad officials/government men. “Too far off to practise love for thy neighbour/brother Slav, where our cherubs dread to fly, people die.” This quote is an example of hyperbole and metaphor because saying that somebody is “too far off to practise love for thy neighbour” is greatly exaggerated because normally people like their neighbors, and an example of a metaphor because saying “where our cherubs dread to fly” could mean planes flying over the area could dread flying there because they could be shot down. The author’s perspective is that they participated in the war and believe that America is at fault for not caring enough and putting people in the government that don't handle it properly. The main theme is that As Life Goes On, War Goes On.

Camouflaging the Chimera has a lot of examples of metaphor and imagery that helps understand the poem to relate it to things that we understand. “VC struggled with the hillside, like black silk wrestling through grass.” This quote is an example of simile and plot because it gives an idea of what is happening in the main events of the story and the simile helps the reader understand what is happening by relating it to things that they might know in their life. “We wove ourselves into the terrain, content to be a hummingbird’s target.” This quote shows an example of hyperbole because it exaggerates the fact that they were camouflaged into the woods by saying they were woven into it. The author’s perspective is describing that he was in the Vietnam war and how they snuck around in the forests using the terrain to their advantage. The theme of this poem is that In war, it can be necessary to camouflage.

Two poems I am choosing: redeployment by Harold Nemerov, and Bosnia Tune by Joseph Brodsky.

Both of these poems have a lot of disturbing imagery and it was quite interesting to me. 

Redeployment:  “But the water comes bloody from the taps, but my pet cat in his disorder vomits worms which crawl swiftly away. Maybe they leave the house. These worms are white, specked with the cat's blood.”

“I know a man who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps A soldiers dead eyeballs that he found somewhere, hard as chalk, and blue as skate.” 

The author makes these metaphors and similes of just ordinary things, but how they are related to one another is absolutely disgusting, but it really interests me all at the same time. I’m guessing that his point of view on war was a gross and repulsive event, and there must have been some really flat out disturbing things that happened at that time. And really crazy people at that time, like a man that keeps a dead soldier's eyeballs, That’s flat out psychotic and gross.

Bosnia Tune: 

“As you sip your brand of scotch,

crush a roach or scratch your crotch

as your hand adjusts your tie,

people die.”

“In the towns with funny names

hit by bullets, caught in flames,

by and large, not knowing why,

people die.”

Honestly, I don’t know if this poem was gross and disturbing, or just sad. I’m guessing his point of view on war was sad and scary, like small towns getting blown up and the people not having a chance to even react. That sounds scary, but that’s war for you. And we need to accept the fact that people do die, even without wars occuring, it could be murder, natural causes, old age, accidents. It just happens.

In the poem Redeployment the 2 literary terms that I think of when I read this story is understatement and imagery. It seems kind of difficult to grasp the idea of this poem without thinking of it in a metaphorical way. Understatement is really shown in this poem, especially where the author says “..and my pet cat/In his disorder vomits worms which crawl/Swiftly away. Maybe they leave the house.”, it makes no sense and we need more context to have any understanding of what the author is saying (Nemerov 2-3). 

Imagery, being the second term I see in this poem is best shown where the author says “The war may be over. 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./He clicks them in his pocket while he talks.”, this part is probably the part that makes the most sense (Nemerov 6-10). The author uses imagery to help us understand how the eyeballs look and feel.

The author’s view on war seems to be very negative. It sounds like they came back from war, and they were unable to see the world the same way. Everything seems to look horrible and disgusting to them.

The second poem, The Last Lie, shows understatement, and character. Understatement is shown throughout the poem, but more specifically on when the author states”He didn’t toss the can, he wound up and hung it/On the child’s forehead and she was/Backwards into the dust of our trucks.” This does not make a whole lot of sense, I don’t know why he wound a can of food at the child’s forehead (Weigl 5-7). 

Character, is shown near the end “I grit my teeth to myself to remember that girl/Smiling as she fought off her brothers and sisters./She laughed/As if she thought it were a joke/And the guy with me laughed/And fingered the edge of another can/Like it was the seam of a baseball/Until his rage ripped/Again into the faces of children/Who called to us for food.” this part shows the author’s perspective on the situation (Weigl 15-24).

The author’s view on war seems to be that war is cruel to innocent people that happen to live where war takes place. This little girl does not deserve to have a can beamed at her forehead, and the author thinks that as well. 

“As you watch the athletes score, check your latest statement, or kissing your child a lullaby, people die.” (Brodsky) is an example of understatement, because it shows that people go on with their lives while others die. It’s like dying to them is just another normal everyday thing, less of a worry more of a bother. This helped me understand how war is impacting this character by making them insensitive and numb to death. “Time, whose sharp, blood-thirsty quill parts the killed from those who kill,” (Brodsky) is an example of metaphor because it talks about how time has a sharp blood thirsty quill when clearly it doesn’t actually nor are they really two related things. I think the author is trying to prove that as time passes people kill each other and time, though it cannot actually separate people, it separates those who are killed and who kill because over time they die. “Somewhere--hard as chalk, and blue as skate.” (Nemerov) is an example of simile because it’s saying that the eyeballs are as hard as chalk when they're obviously not chalk. Same for the comparison of skate, they are eyes so they're not skate. This helped me understand how war is impacting this character by showing how they see the world and compare the world to things. It also shows how desensitized they are to just seeing an eyeball out of a socket and comparing it to something as plain as chalk. “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) is an example of imagery because as the reader you can clearly imagine what the author is talking about and what the worms and water look like. This shows that the author wants us to get a better idea of what this looks like and how the character sees the world after the war.

In the poem Beautiful Wreckage by W.D. EHRHART, the two most significant literary terms I found were Imagery and Repetition.

“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?” This is an example of imagery because he describes where these events happened/what was happening, features about the person and even where the old man was shot. This shows how the soldier is reflecting on the events he experienced throughout his time in war.

“What if” “Or what if” “What if” “What if” This is an example of repetition throughout the entire poem. He wonders what would happen if all of these events he described didn’t happen or were changed in some sort of way. This again shows his reflection on his time in the war and on the bad things that happened.

The overall message of the poem seems to be that war leaves a lasting effect on people and can be mentally damaging

In the poem Redeployment by HAROLD NEMEROV, the two most significant literary terms I found were Imagery and Paradox.

“A soldier’s dead blue eyeballs that he found Somewhere--hard as chalk, and blue as skate.” This is an example of imagery throughout the poem because he describes in detail the colors of this dead soldiers eyeballs.

“They say the war is over.” This is a paradox because the war is over but it isn’t from the writer's perspective. They also contradict themselves throughout the poem then saying the war is over in the final paragraph.

I think the message of this poem is that war can be gross and gruesome.

In “Redeployment” By Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms are paradoxes and juxtaposition. For a paradox, in the second stanza it says “I know a man who keeps a pleasant souvenir, he keeps a soldier’s dead eyeballs … “ This is a paradox because a pair of eyeballs is anything but pleasant, and hardly a souvenir. This helps me to understand the poem because it shows that the writer, a war vet, clearly carries some sort of trauma from the war if he thinks of things this way. There is also a juxtaposition between the first and last stanza. In the first, it says “In his disorder vomits worms … these worms are white and flecked with the cat’s blood.” and in the last it says “I dressed in clean white clothes and went to bed.” This is a comparison of two like things (both white) but they have significant differences in that one is gross and one is clean and nice, starting off the poem slightly gross but ending it opposite. This is similar to the paradox, in comparing something nice to something gross. The authors perspective on war is clearly that now that hes left the war, he seems to find comfort in grosser things similar to how he might on the battlefield.

All of “Bosnia Tune” by Joseph Brodsky is a juxtaposition. Each stanza takes something good or normal to everyday life, and compares it to a, for lack of a better term, ‘similar’ situation in war. For example, “As you watch the athletes score, check your latest statement, or kissing your child a lullaby, people die.” There is also consistent repetition throughout the poem, as every line (except for the very last) ends simply with “people die” this might be a reference to the war; while all these things are happening for normal civilians, people in wars are dying. The repetition shows that the dying isn’t just a one time event, but a constant in war. I believe that the authors perspective on war is that the lives of soldiers and the lives of men are very different, and that everyday civilians are blissfully unaware of the tragedies of war.

In “redeployment” the two lit terms that stood out to me and helped me understand the story were metaphor and imagery. “They say the war is over. But water still Comes bloody from the taps” (Nemerov) This quote is a metaphor for: even though the war is over people at home are still impacted by it. “my pet cat In his disorder vomits worms which crawl Swiftly away…flecked with the cats blood” (Nemerov) 

In “Bosnia Tune” two of the lit terms that stood out the most and helped me understand the story were juxtaposition  and understatement. “people die…people die…people die” (brodsky) This quote is juxtaposition, throughout the whole poem he keeps saying that people die, when everyone else is living their normal peaceful life people are dying. “People die as you elect new apostles of neglect, self-restraint, etc. … As you watch the athletes score, check your latest statement, or kissing your child a lullaby, people die.” (Brodsky) This quote is showing understatement because it’s very casual. The topic is gruesome and morbid but he talks about it so casually.

I believe the author's message of war is that “war has a huge impact” that can be to the people fighting or the people at home. And defiantly to the soldiers that come home.

In "Beautiful Wreckage" by W.D. Ehrhart, the two literary terms I found most common or significant were imagery and repetition. 

"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?" This quote is using imagery to help us imagine a scene in the poem. 

"What if I didn't shoot the old lady" "What if the angels were Ames and Ski" "What if none of it happened the way I said?" Almost each section of the poem begins with a what if statement which is repetition. 

Overall the message is that war really does affect people and how they think outside of war. 

In "Camouflaging the Chimera" The most significant were imagery and metaphor. 

"Crawled our spines, changing from day to night: green to gold, gold to black. But we waited till the moon touched metal" Using imagery allows us to visualize the scene. 

"We hugged bamboo and leaned against a breeze off the river, slow-dragging with ghosts" Leaning against a breeze off the river is a metaphor because they are't actually leaning on a breeze it is just a comparison. 

Overall the message is that camouflage really helps and could save you in war 

In the poem Bosnia Tune by JOSEPH BRODSKY, the two most significant literary terms I found were Perspective and Metaphor. “In small places you don’t know of / yet big for having no chance to scream or say goodbye / people die.” (BRODSKY) is an example of Metaphor because he compares a quiet small town to people dying in that town and war. “Check your latest statements, or kissing your child a lullaby, people die.”(BRODSKY). Is an example of Perspective because it’s showing that while people are living their lives, people are always dying. This helped me understand the author's perspective because he's saying that even though people are living a normal life people are dying in war. The author's perspective on war is that you can’t escape death when you are there. A message I took away from this is death is going to happen and it doesn’t matter where you are in the world.

In the poem Redeployment by Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms are hyperbole and imagery.

“I heard the dust falling between the walls” is an example of hyperbole because he can’t really hear the dust falling between the walls.

 “My pet cat vomits worms….These worms are white, and flecked with the cat's blood” this is imagery because we can not see the worms so he describes them to us.

In the poem Camouflaging the Chimera by Yusef Komunyakaa, the two most significant literary terms are Imagery and Hyperbole.

“We tied branches to our helmets. We painted our faces & rifles with mud” this is an example of imagery because we can't see the shoulders.

“The river ran through our bones” this is an example of Hyperbole because the river wasn't actually running through their bones

in the poem Redeployment, the most common lit terms are juxtaposition and imagery 

"they say the war is over. but water still comes bloody from the taps." this shows imagery because he remembers his past in the war and that's how he explains it. 

"I tried to wash the dirt out of my hair and fingernails, I dressed in clean white clothes and went to bed." this shows juxtaposition because it brings out the differences between his dirty hair and nails but clean white close to going to sleep in.

in the poem When I am 19 I Was a Medic, the most common lit terms are character and POV

"All day I always want to know who is in front of me and who is behind me" this shows POV of war and how people think because no one wants to die. 

"Some nights I dig in saying my wife's name over and over." this shows character because he misses his wife throughout the war, showing his character and what he has lost being in war.

In the beautiful wreckage by WD EHRHART the 2 biggest literary terms i have seen is Plot and Perspective 

Quote 1 expresses Plot “what if i didn't shoot the lady running away from patrol” this shows plot because it determines the next course of action in the poem. Making this soldier contemplate what could have changed if I didn't shoot this lady. 

Quote 2 shows perspective “or the old man in the back of the head,

or the boy in the marketplace?” This expresses his perspective of the man's life when he was watching people in the market. I can see a small market and imagine where he was. 

In Camouflaging the Chimera by YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA the 2 biggest literary terms that stood out to me were hyperbole and simile the first example of hyperbole is  “green to gold, gold to black. But we waited till the moon touched metal,” this is a figure of speech and is used to express to us the way time goes in war. This also helps me understand what they are experiencing. The second literary term is similar and the best example in this story is “till something almost broke inside us. VC struggled with the hillside, like black silk”this is using like or as and saying the hillside is a struggle to climb and saying in war a lot of stuff is difficult

In the poem Redeployment by Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms were Imagery and Point of view.

“But water still/comes bloody from the taps, and my pet cat/in his disorder vomits worms which crawl/swiftly away.”( Nemerov 1,2,3,4). This Is an example of Imagery because it makes the reader visualize the unpleasant surrounding he or she was in. This generally helped me understand how the characters felt as he looked at his pet and how he still has the thought of war in his head. It overall shows me that war is like death, it follows you everywhere you go and you can't escape from it.

“I heard the dust falling between the walls.” (Nemerov 20). This is an example of Point of view as it describes how he is highly aware of his surroundings and in a way unsettling. This helped me understand how he was feeling in the moment, a moment where he did not hear mortars coming in, a sense of somewhat peace. It overall tells me that war is generally loud and action packed, that when you leave, you relax.

In the poem Beautiful wreckage by W.D. Ehrhart, the two most significant literary terms I found were Juxtaposition and Imagery.

“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 13,14,15,16). This quote is an example of juxtaposition, as it describes the place of angels as war. These two different topics in general are very different as angels are mostly a good thing and such, while the war aspect like sandbags rotting and heavy artillery are bad. Overall, the character in this poem seems lost in what's good or bad, Delusional like war.

“The place of rotting sandbags,/ incoming heavy artillery, rats and mud.” (Ehrhart 15,16). This is an example of imagery as it shows detail of a not so pleasant place. The adjectives like rotting shows the conditions the character was thinking of at that moment, and the most unpleasant things like rats and mud is a good example of imagery. Overall, I think that war is generally disgusting and unhealthy.

1. Sallee

Mrs. Chick 

10/13/2022

In the poem Beautiful Wreckage by W.D. Ehrhart , the two most significant literary terms I found were repetition and imagery. Reading this poem you can tell the author wants the reader to imagine the things this soldier went through. Throughout the poem images start to come in your head of what had happened in this war. What they are feeling, seeing, and understanding. ¨What if the boy-but he didn't have a grenade¨ Quote #1 is stating a contemplation of regret. Repeating the same phrases, ¨what if¨, asking this repetitive phrase of asking, ´what if i didn't do this…’ reflecting the trauma of war. ¨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?¨ This quote shows the imagery part of this poem. Describing where this guy was shot and what location gives you the mind to be in the place and see where he was at the time and how it happened. 

In the poem Redeployment  by Harold Nemerov, the two most significant literary terms I found were repetition and imagery. When getting a good understanding of the contact of this poem  you really begin to see and understand the trauma this person went through. This soldier has come home from war but is having a hard time adjusting. An example of repetition is… ¨they say the war is over¨ when the author is talking about a trigger point it starts with ¨they say the war is over but…¨ When giving examples when reading you tend to see what this author is describing giving you that imagery characteristic. ¨A soldier's dead blue eyeballs that he found somewhere- hard as calk, and blue as skate. He clicks them in his pocket while he talks. This is an example of imagery as the author is describing the state of these eyes this soldier has found.