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OHR: Coping with War-Related Stress: Information for Military
Surviving In and Through War
After reading the collection of poems, I found them to vary widely in my comprehension and my emotional response. The two poems that evoked the most response emotionally were, “Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting,” by Kevin C. Powers, and “Song of Napalm,” By Bruce Weigl. They both happen to
relate to war in different ways. I have always been inquisitive about the details of war, not in a grotesque or morbid way, but in a human interest sort of way. I liken it watching a scary movie and covering your eyes because you don’t want to see, but you crack your fingers and peer through because you have to see.
“In Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting,” the tone is one of dull monotony. The structure is very simple and the poem is short. The speaker’s comrade writes, “…that war is just us/making little pieces of metal/pass through each other.” (Powers lines 9-12) The speaker is trivializing the affects of war. It is unemotionally stated. The speaker conveys that everything in his life is viewed through the eyes of war.
In “Song of Napalm,” by Bruce Weigl, the tone is an ordinary calm observation of a storm, but moves into uninvited haunting flashbacks of war. I think the speaker rewrites the horrific script of the girl covered in napalm to one of pleasant fantasy as a way to cope. In doing so, the girl soars free of pain, allowing him, for a time, to release his own painful memory. He says, “So I can keep on living…” (Weigl line 28) To contrast the two, one man simplifies war and its effects, and the other man’s mind magnifies the effects of war, both in their attempts to cope.
2011Weigl, Bruce. "Song of Napalm." Poetry foundation, Poetry. Archaeology of the Circle: New and Selected Poems. Copyright 1999.
Hello Eleanor,
ReplyDeleteThe look and lay out of your post is nice. It is very easy to read, and the graphic/photo is relevant and of a nice size. However, I didn't see any graphic for the second poem you were reviewing, and the name of your post, “Surviving In and Through War” may have led others to believe that this was not the assignment, “Response to Two Poems”. I really liked your description of your inquisitiveness towards the subject matter of the poems you were writing about, “I liken it watching a scary movie and covering your eyes because you don’t want to see, but you crack your fingers and peer through because you have to see.” Your MLA citations are there, and look complete (although I am still learning this format myself.)
You wrote, “The speaker’s comrade writes, “…that war is just us/making little pieces of metal/pass through each other.” (Powers lines 9-12) The speaker is trivializing the affects of war. It is unemotionally stated. The speaker conveys that everything in his life is viewed through the eyes of war.” I must disagree. When taken in context, the speaker seems disheartened by the war, yearning for the things that the rest of us have taken for granted, “I tell her I love her like not killing/or ten minutes of sleep” (Powers lines 1-2). Also, although I agree that his comrade may be as you say, “trivializing the affects of war”, but the speaker seems disgusted by this comment in the lines leading up to this statement, “I tell her in a letter that will stink/when she opens it/of bolt oil and burned powder/and the things it says./I tell her how Pvt. Bartle says, offhand,/that war is just us/making little pieces of metal/pass through each other.” (Powers lines 5-12) (Lines underlined and in bold for emphasis.) In war, soldiers have to be careful of what they write – other's may see it. This may be his way of indicating that he thinks Pvt. Bartle's comment stinks, and the war stinks with out saying it outright. After all, that's one of “the things it says” (Powers line 8) that the letter will stink of. Good analysis though – you gave me something to disagree with.
I think your analysis of the other poem, “Song of Napalm,” by Bruce Weigl, is spot on. You wrote, “I think the speaker rewrites the horrific script of the girl covered in napalm to one of pleasant fantasy as a way to cope.” I could not agree more, especially when you read the descriptions of what Napalm is, “This substance is formulated to burn close to a specified rate and also to adhere to surfaces.”, “One of the main anti-personnel features of napalm is that it sticks to human skin, with no practical method for removal of the burning substance.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm, see also: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100403184616AAyfepS)
Other than those few things mentioned above, there is nothing else I can say I'd change about your post. It is very well done, and well cited. You were even able to keep it double spaced. (My posts always convert to single spaced when I copy them over – not sure why.) I hope these comments are helpful.
Thanks,
Shellie H.
I grew up listening to my parents and aunts and uncles talking about Vietnam,and later my cousin telling us all about his tours in Desert Storm. I remember my cousin telling me how difficult it was to go from something violent to try and write to his wife without letting on the horrors that he had been witness to. But he went through it, and came out the other side relatively unscathed. He still has memories, but luckily they are starting to fade. As for the second poem you choose, I also choose that. I remember listening to the stories one of my uncles told all the time. He was in the Air Force during the Vietnam war, and he years later he was sickened at the thought of what he had done to people that in his eyes were innocent. He was one of those pilots that flew a jet that dropped Napalm on specific parts of the countryside to flush out the enemies. He was always recounting the memory when he was dropping the napalm and got to close to a rice paddy and the wind blew the napalm over the women and children that were working there, even though he couldn't physically hear their screams, he heard them in his heart. So when I read this poem I knew I too had to write on it because of the effects it had on everyone. I enjoyed reading your post!!!
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