The pain and laughter of the day are done
So strangely hushed and still the long ward seems,
Only the Sister’s candle softly beams.
Clear from the church near by the clock strikes ’one’;
And all are wrapt away in secret sleep and dreams.
Here one cries sudden on a sobbing breath,
Gripped in the clutch of some incarnate fear:
What terror through the darkness draweth near?
What memory of carnage and of death?
What vanished scenes of dread to his closed eyes appear?
And one laughs out with an exultant joy.
An athlete he — Maybe his young limbs strain
In some remembered game, and not in vain
To win his side the goal — Poor crippled boy,
Who in the waking world will never run again.
One murmurs soft and low a woman’s name;
And here a vet’ran soldier calm and still
As sculptured marble sleeps, and roams at will
Through eastern lands where sunbeams scorch like flame,
By rich bazaar and town, and wood-wrapt snow-crowned hill.
Through the wide open window on great star,
Swinging her lamp above the pear-tree high,
Looks in upon these dreaming forms that lie
So near in body, yet in soul so far
As those bright worlds thick strewn ion that vast depth of sky.
Eva Dobell
Eva Dobell's poems are similar as they all exemplify the true despair of the emotional aspect of war. The poem captures the readers attention as it uses striking sentences such as; "here one cries sudden on a sobbing breath" this emphasises to the reader how war mentally damaged the men. "Poor cripple boy,Who in the waking world will never run again" shows the reader the sadness of the cripple’s injury is reinforced by sympathy being evoked by “poor”. Also, the reality of war is presented because the injuries are permanent and everlasting, and will have a mentally damaging effect on the men forever.
ReplyDeleteDobell uses similar language and imagery to what is used in 'Pluck', an example of this would be sentences such as "poor crippled boy, Who in the walking world will never run again" this gives an instant negative tone to the poem with the message that the men that return from the war will never be the same - physically and mentally. This negative tone is also used in Dobells poem 'Pluck' with the quotation "crippled for life at seventeen" as both quotation use the age of the soldier with "seventeen" and "boy" to give the harsh images of young boys that signed up willingly to war and return physically different with the strong image of "crippled" which is language used to refer to older generation. Overall portraying that the young boys childhoods are being taken away from them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, in both poems Dobell uses harsh imagery to portray the realities of war and the huge impact it had on the soldiers health. Due to this the reader has a truthful insight into the brutality of the physical and emotional damages.
DeleteThe use of rhetorical questions that Dobell has used in stanza two ,such as 'what terror does the darkness draweth near?' could construct an image in the reader's mind of the horror that the solider has witnessed during the war. This could also emphasise the emotional, damaging effect that war has had on the soldier as he 'cries sudden on a sobbing breath.'
ReplyDeleteI agree that the rhetorical questions in stanza 2 connote horror and reflect the damaging and emotional effect the wounded soldiers have on the nurses. However I also feel these rhetorical questions strongly highlight her confusion about how the war came to be and may question whether anything can justify such horrors. This compares with Sassoon in Regeneration who feels the war is unjustified.
DeleteDobell's poems all seem to be portraying the negative affects that war had on the men who were serving and who had served. In this particular poem it seems as though she is writing about the men at their most vulnerable time "in secret sleeps and dreams" which may be to portray the vulnerability that the injuries of war brought to the men. the "poor crippled boy" whom Dobell writes of could be the same boy that she writes of in `pluck`, in his dreams she observes that he may be living his life through dreams where he can play football and run around. She ends each stanza with a negative line which emphasises the harshness and suddenness of the injuries that had been endured by the men.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it appears that Dobell might possibly be writing about the same young soldier as she was in the poem 'Pluck', like you said, she refers the the soldier as a 'poor crippled boy', alike to the opening line in 'Pluck 'crippled for life at seventeen'. This either shows that Dobell felt a connection with this particular soldier and felt that his story was worth being written about, or it shows that this was unfortunately a recurring case for soldiers in the war; this displays to the readers the brutal realities that the soldiers faced in the First World War.
DeleteThis poem seems to be set during the night time in a hospital ward of wounded soldiers. The poem seems to reflect the nurses thoughts and feelings during this time. The nurse witnesses the soldiers nightmares for example on the line 'what terror through the darkness draweth near?' This shows how the war has badly effected the soldiers, even when away from the front line, the war remains inescapable.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the poem helps to portray how big the war was and how it affected the men in a bad way long after it was over. However, I think the poem also helps to show the strength of the men, as they remain hopeful. This hope can be seen in one man as he 'laughs out with an exultant joy' while dreaming of being an athlete again despite the fact that 'in the waking world' he 'will never run again' as a result of the war.
DeleteI too agree that this poem gives us an impression as to the grand scale of "terror" that soldiers experienced, both in the trenches and whilst recovering from the "dread" in a "dimly outlined" "long ward". The idea that men were still crying out in their beds, in what we could perceive as relatively safe hospitals, suggests the psychological impact on their health as well as their physical injuries.
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ReplyDeleteAll of Dobell's poems seem to be conveying the negative affects that war had on the men, in particularly the physical affects. Dobell describes the men as 'poor crippled boy', contrasting the difference between a man and a young boy, maybe that she believes that then men was just young boys at heart, that the boys childhood had been taken away from them due to the war. Dobell consistently refers back to the negative emotional imagery as she quotes 'his young limbs strain', allowing the reader to feel emotionally attached and also sympathy towards the young men that will 'never run again'.
ReplyDeleteThis poem helps to present the contrast in emotions felt throughout the war. For example, the opening line is ‘the pain and laughter of the day are done’; the contrast between the words ‘pain’ and ‘laughter’ show how different people responded to the horrors of war in different ways and that people still managed to find happiness despite the horrors of war. The descriptions of the men’s dreams also help to convey these various emotions. For example, while one man dreams of being an ‘athlete’ and laughs with an ‘exultant joy’, another man dreams ‘in the clutch of some incarnate fear’. Again, the contrast in dreams helps to portray the mixture of feelings people had during war as they battled between feeling hope and fear.
ReplyDeleteDobell uses constant rhetorical questions within stanza two in order to engage the readers mind and attention; possibly allowing them to experience the horrendous pain and grief these people were feeling. As a result of this the reader may feel as though they're in connection with the poem in a more meaningful emotive way; understanding the feelings that were experienced within this certain period of time.
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