Tim O'Brien'sThe Things They Carried
The Power of Poetry
Christina Reillo
Ms. Mary Jo Garcia
English 101.003
October 16, 2006
The Power of Poetry
Poetry is a particular arrangement of words intended to produce an effect upon the reader. Poetry evokes emotions, stimulates a reader’s imagination, and recalls experiences by using meaningful words and sounds. It should incorporate the use of metaphors and irony to make one question the intent of the words. Regardless of its form or lack of rhyming words, poetry should always provoke the thoughts of the reader. The poem, “The War Works Hard”, written by Dunya Mikhail captures all of these elements, embodying the exact definition of what poetry is.
This poem uses many dark images to explain how “wonderful” the war is. It incorporates irony in several of its lines. The poem begins with, “How magnificent the war is!” (Mikhail line 1) going on to discuss whom the war benefits, listing the industry of artificial limbs, gravediggers, and coffin makers. This is obviously a very grim view of the benefits of war. These benefits make the war sound not magnificent at all, hence irony is conveyed. Also, the final line of the poem, “It works with unparalleled diligence! / Yet no one gives it a word of praise” (50-52). After the reading this entire poem filled with sad images of what the war benefits, of course no one would praise the war. The last lines of the poem compare the diligence of the war with the lack of praise it receives in an ironic matter. The arrangement of the words requires the reader to recognize the underlying sarcasm conveyed by the writer.
This poem does a wonderful job of provoking the reader’s thoughts using specific words. For example, the lines “[the war] achieves equality between killer and killed” (38-39) really make the reader stop and define what a killer and the killed could possibly have in common that would make them equal. After all, one is alive and one is dead. However, after careful examination, the reader realizes that the one who kills loses a little part of himself in the process. Thus, a little part of the killer’s humanity has died, making him equal with the dead victim. These six words allow the reader to feel the emotion that a soldier must undergo. For this reason, it is an amazing use of the English language.
Many emotions are called upon in this poem through use of words which stir up the reader’s imagination. For example, the poem describes how war “summons rain from the eyes of mothers” (11), “accustoms young women to waiting” (41), and “builds new houses for the orphans”(44-45). These are all heartbreaking images which fill the reader with emotion and compassion for all the people affected by their loved one’s involvement in war. The reader really is able to imagine the mother of a dead soldier sobbing such tears that it is more like a rainstorm. Also the use of the word “orphan” makes the reader imagine a devastated, lonely child. “Young women waiting” makes the reader imagine angst-ridden women imagining the worst, yet hoping for the best possible outcomes of their lovers, brothers, or close friends. Another example of an emotional image occurs in the line, “swings corpses through the air” (8). The use of the words in this line dehumanizes the dead soldiers. An image of human beings being flung about like a sack of potatoes is upsetting to imagine.
The words in the poem “The War Works Hard” are carefully chosen in order to craft a powerful statement about the multifaceted effects of war. The same effect could have been produced upon a reader in essay or paragraph form, however, it is quite a challenge for a poet to convey such a powerful affect using so few words. In conclusion, poetry is a beautiful art form of word manipulation.
Ms. Mary Jo Garcia
English 101.003
October 16, 2006
The Power of Poetry
Poetry is a particular arrangement of words intended to produce an effect upon the reader. Poetry evokes emotions, stimulates a reader’s imagination, and recalls experiences by using meaningful words and sounds. It should incorporate the use of metaphors and irony to make one question the intent of the words. Regardless of its form or lack of rhyming words, poetry should always provoke the thoughts of the reader. The poem, “The War Works Hard”, written by Dunya Mikhail captures all of these elements, embodying the exact definition of what poetry is.
This poem uses many dark images to explain how “wonderful” the war is. It incorporates irony in several of its lines. The poem begins with, “How magnificent the war is!” (Mikhail line 1) going on to discuss whom the war benefits, listing the industry of artificial limbs, gravediggers, and coffin makers. This is obviously a very grim view of the benefits of war. These benefits make the war sound not magnificent at all, hence irony is conveyed. Also, the final line of the poem, “It works with unparalleled diligence! / Yet no one gives it a word of praise” (50-52). After the reading this entire poem filled with sad images of what the war benefits, of course no one would praise the war. The last lines of the poem compare the diligence of the war with the lack of praise it receives in an ironic matter. The arrangement of the words requires the reader to recognize the underlying sarcasm conveyed by the writer.
This poem does a wonderful job of provoking the reader’s thoughts using specific words. For example, the lines “[the war] achieves equality between killer and killed” (38-39) really make the reader stop and define what a killer and the killed could possibly have in common that would make them equal. After all, one is alive and one is dead. However, after careful examination, the reader realizes that the one who kills loses a little part of himself in the process. Thus, a little part of the killer’s humanity has died, making him equal with the dead victim. These six words allow the reader to feel the emotion that a soldier must undergo. For this reason, it is an amazing use of the English language.
Many emotions are called upon in this poem through use of words which stir up the reader’s imagination. For example, the poem describes how war “summons rain from the eyes of mothers” (11), “accustoms young women to waiting” (41), and “builds new houses for the orphans”(44-45). These are all heartbreaking images which fill the reader with emotion and compassion for all the people affected by their loved one’s involvement in war. The reader really is able to imagine the mother of a dead soldier sobbing such tears that it is more like a rainstorm. Also the use of the word “orphan” makes the reader imagine a devastated, lonely child. “Young women waiting” makes the reader imagine angst-ridden women imagining the worst, yet hoping for the best possible outcomes of their lovers, brothers, or close friends. Another example of an emotional image occurs in the line, “swings corpses through the air” (8). The use of the words in this line dehumanizes the dead soldiers. An image of human beings being flung about like a sack of potatoes is upsetting to imagine.
The words in the poem “The War Works Hard” are carefully chosen in order to craft a powerful statement about the multifaceted effects of war. The same effect could have been produced upon a reader in essay or paragraph form, however, it is quite a challenge for a poet to convey such a powerful affect using so few words. In conclusion, poetry is a beautiful art form of word manipulation.
Works Cited
Dunya, Mikhail. "The War Works Hard." Trans. Elizabeth Winslow.
Poets.Org. 2005. The Academy of American Poets. 20 Feb 2007
<http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16991>.