Throughout history, there have been many wars that altered the physical and mental state of the individuals involved. “In Flanders Fields” is a war poem written by Canadian physician and poet John McCrae during the battle of World War 1 (Furlong-Bolliger 1). This poem comes from the perspective of the dead during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. The second poem, “Facing It” is written in the first person by Yusef Komunyakaa, an African American Vietnam War veteran, as he visits the Vietnam Memorial (Mack 1). Yusef uses his own experiences to reflect on the emotional aftermath of war. War soldiers face lasting physical and mental difficulties, hence affected soldiers deserve remembrance. Both poems explore the lasting effects of war and …show more content…
McCrae tells us that the story is being told from the perspective of the dead soldiers “We are the dead” (Line 6). Using “We” (6), also notifies the reader that more than one soldier is telling the story. McCrae also gives more evidence of the mass casualty, “The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below” (Line 4-5). Upon analysis, the author is alluding that even though the birds are singing, they can not be heard. As the reader can infer, since there is enough gunfire to drown out the birds, there is an equal amount of death. Similarly, in “Facing It,” Komunyakaa displays the immense amount of lives lost during the Vietnam War, “I go down the 58,022 names” (Line 14). This line alone shows us the number of lives lost during the Vietnam War. Each name represents a soldier who was lost during the horrific war. Komunyakaa continues to display the mass amount of death from war, “Half-expecting to find my own letters like smoke” (Line 17-18), the veteran runs his hands down the wall and they all seemingly blend together, representing the endless amount of names to take over the entire