Sound and Sense -Poem 234

The narrator here is a dead guy who's a bit miffed at the military for shooting off cannons in the middle of eternity. To put it simply. There is a rhyme scheme here, ABAB iambic, and it most definitely has an impact on the poem. Firstly, having the dead guy speak results in a much better read than having a living person talk of the dead. Hearing it first person adds to the credibility, and also the understanding, because otherwise it's all interpretation of who the speaker is, what their fictional profession is, the story of the story, etc. Here it's reduced to a simple answer: first-hand opinion from the dead guy. Secondly, having it in a rhyme scheme helps add to the sarcastic wit of the poem. It gives it a sort of weary beat, like someone woken in the middle of the night to blaring loud music. The rhyme also makes it more personable, as if it were a children's rhyme. The overall effect is that it makes the dead less detached from the living, and makes us more able to relate to them. You almost want to agree that those ****in' kids better turn down that racket, because you've been down that path before, I'm sure, someone waking you in the night, and likely for a stupid reason as well.

One interesting technique used is the allusion. It brings to mind some of the more famous English sites, where bloody battles were likely fought and, of course, the English would really like to stay. The date is 1948, so WWII will have passed, but not long ago. Obviously, the guns could be blazing away for that, the attacks on England by Germany. Hence the "readiness to avenge" (34). Regardless, though it may seem like little to us Americans, being as we don't know the history behind these sites, we can all agree that some places we really like to keep under our thumb. We wouldn't, for example, want Nazis having a picnic on Mount Rushmore, or perhaps building a missile site under the Statue of Liberty. Some places are special to us, and likewise the English really want to fight for their places. But then again, it's only a small tourist attraction. The fact that mere tracts of land and all on it hold such a grip on us that we must blow each others' heads off for it is a little disappointing. Think of Jerusalem. Holy place, I understand, but why are you unholily killing thousands of people there? Secondly, the tone of the poem is quite amusing. It helps convey the friendly nature of the poem, the comic situation of old bones cranky at the young making such a heck of a noise. For one, a deceased priest says it would have been a better idea to drink for 40 years rather than preach, given the idiotic battling going on. For him, nothing's changed, so why did he bother? And, of course, God comes down to joke with the dead how the soldiers should be lucky that it's not time for the Final Judgment, "For if it were they'd have to scour Hell's floor for so much threatening..." (19-20). He also jests that he might not pass the Final Judgment soon after all because "you are men and rest eternal sorely need" (23-24). That's like saying, "Well, old guys, if you really need that much sleep, you might as well just sleep forever, you're so darn tired." This is most certainly a comic approach to a fairly serious topic; mindless slaughter, countered by a good-humored God and the undead.

Personally, I liked this poem. As far as a correlation to the world today, I can agree that people can fight over the craziest of things. But when it comes to war, people can really be dense. Tons of people die. It's not a very pleasant thing to experience should you live through it either, I'm sure. But, of course, we fight on...and on...and on...............Kinda makes you seem hopeless about the future. There will always be fighting, but I found this humorous approach to the subject quite amusing. Though, if I were one of those skeletons, I'd be more likely to get out of my grave and tell the noisemakers to SHUT UP. Whether or not I scare them into the grave next to mine is of no concern to me.