Thomas Hardy’s “Channel Firing”
The Violent Human Condition Throughout history, the world has seen countless wars and each one was bloodier than the last. Human beings have become masters of the art of war and find pride in their ability to destroy. “Channel Firing” by Thomas Hardy brings attention to this characteristic of humanity. Hardy creates a rhyme scheme which in combination with the events of the poem highlight mankind’s perpetual capacity for never ending violence and war. The title of the poem,“Channel Firing”, refers to the naval gunnery practice in the English Channel which took place only months before World War I. The poem opens with the sounds of “great guns” which the speaker claims “shook all our coffins as we lay” (1-2). The speaker first believes that the only explanation for something loud enough to break the “chancel window-squares” is that it is
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The poem is broken up into nine stanzas, each containing four lines. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza is abab format. The rhyme scheme continues the back-and-forth rhyme, eventually ending with a qrqr rhyme scheme for the very last stanza. The rhyme scheme continues without repetition outside of each stanza. This leaves the poem without a sense of resolution. Just as the rhyme scheme never comes to a concluding couplet, the guns never stop, even as the dead men lay down in their coffins once again. The perpetual need for war and bloodshed is as ongoing as the rhyme scheme, ever changing with new advances. Humans grow and adapt to war, making it more violent than before. This continuous growth is shown through the abab scheme as it makes it’s way through the different letters of the alphabet. The setup is similar however the rhyming, and resources, differ from each stage prior and after. The violence will not end until God blows the trumpet; which he admits he may never
Flipping through the pages of Here, Bullet by Brian Turner, I just needed to find a poem to recite. Fourteen lines, the minimum requirement, easy enough. People stabbing each other, flipped Humvees, shrapnel flying, every poem appears the same. We were just taught that war poetry contains sexual undertones, but the explosions I am reading about here only involve the presence of gunpowder.
There is no structured rhyme, rather lines and stanzas flow into each other to form sentences. The words are short and simple, carefully chosen to convey deep sentiments in one or two syllables. For example, Boland writes “And still no page/ scores the low music/ of our outrage” (42-44). None of the words in this stanza are more than two syllables, yet the clipped tone expresses her indignation at the way women have been relegated to second class people over the course of history. There are two symbols that appear throughout the poem, stars and fire.
...n”). The "face" is the face of the gun or end of the barrel, which explodes with a deadly bullet instead of lava. The poem substitutes pleasure for bullet when it says that the gun barrel, "let it's pleasure through." The bullet is the gun's pleasure that and he smiles warmly when firing it. The gun, and therefore it's master takes pleasure in the violence and deadly force of the loaded gun.
Philosophers since the beginning of time have debated over the source and cause of violent tendencies in humans that in turn produce global conflicts, to solve the age old question, man or beast? Global conflict can with out a doubt be completely accredited to the human race, but what are the particular reasons for humans to cause such conflicts? There are many topics that have been argued by philosophers and historians over the connection between the reasons the human race and global conflict. One such topic is the gender based theories and sexual differences of men and women. Others believe that religion, with particular emphasis on monotheistic beliefs, is the major basis of conflict among the human race up to this day. Another important fact to take into consideration when attempting to understand why there is global conflict in the human race; is the significance of individual cultures amongst opposing or simply separated tribes, groups, states, and nations. Lastly, one must consider the physical evidence, for example, figuring out what can be learned about previous prehistoric societies from anthropology and paleontology. The basis of the debate is the nature of mankind; is it in our nature to be like wild animals with a lust to kill with the only difference between us and animals being intelligence, or is it that mankind over the time of existence have developed such things as material goods, religious belief systems, and all different ways of life that are responsible for violence and conflict throughout the history of the world. There is no clear cut answer to why mankind acts in such a way, but one can develop a very strong argument or theory which includes and relat...
For a long time now the debate has been, and continues to be, as to whether or not violence on television makes children more violent. As with all contentious issues there are both proponents and detractors. This argument has been resurrected in the wake of school shootings, most notably Columbine and Erfurt, Germany; and acts of random violence by teenagers, the murders of two Dartmouth professors. Parents, teachers, pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and FCC Chairmen William Kennard and former Vice President Al Gore say violent TV programming contribute in large part to in violence in young people today. However, broadcasters and major cable TV providers like Cox Communication say that it is the parent’s fault for not making it clear to their kids as what they may or may not watch on TV. The major TV networks and cable providers also state it is the TV industry’s fault as well for not regulating what is shown on TV. So who is the guilty party in this argument of whether or not TV violence influences of the behavior young people in today’s society?
In the third stanza, the language becomes much darker, words like: anger, explode, and against make this stanza seem even more warlike than the first stanza.
Throughout history, many political and societal issues on a plethora of topics which societies have faced, although dealt with differently under varying circumstances, are relatively constant. One such topic, that of violence in modern society, is of great importance in the public eye, and governments try to respond to societal violence, whichever way is deemed judicious and appropriate, considering the ways which the public views such matters. Specifically speaking to issues of violence in modern society, gun control is a topic that is enveloped in political controversy. Governments behave differently to combat gun violence, according to their fundamental ideals and the opinions and paradigms of those who society is comprised. The nature or presence of any legislative action is usually
The poem comprises three stanzas which are patterned in two halves; the rule of three is ingeniously used throughout the poem to create tension and show the progression of the soldiers’ lives. There is a variety of rhyming schemes used – possibly Duffy considered using caesural rhyme, internal rhyme and irregular rhyme to better address the elegiac reality. The rhythm is very powerful and shows Duffy’s technical adroitness. It is slightly disconcerting, and adds to the other worldly ambience of the poem. Duffy uses a powerful comparative in each stanza to exemplify the monstrosity and extent of war, which is much worse than we imagine; it develops throughout each stanza, starting with a syntactical ‘No; worse.’ to ‘worse by far’ and ending on ‘much worse’. Similarly, the verbs used to describe the soldier’s shadow as he falls shows the reader the journey of the shadow, as if it’s the trajectory of soldiers’ lives. At first, the shadow is as an act...
War is a patriotic act where one seeks the determination to lead their country. It can be viewed noble, cruel, inhumane and can make an individual a hero or a criminal. It effects everyone in a society, hoping their loved one is safe whether fighting in the trenches or waiting at home. It has led to severe individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Two poems in war literature “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen and “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa, the authors’ different perspectives will be presented. Owen portrays war as a horror battlefield not to be experienced and the glorious feeling to fight for one’s country. Komunyakaa on the other hand shows an African American that serves in Vietnam War and visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The poets’ choice of diction, setting of battlefield and various uses of poetic devices create a desired effect.
The number of beats and stresses in each line during the poem are scattered, but this serves a purpose by letting ideas flow from one to another. Each idea is connected by using the word “ring” or “ringing.” The overall message of the poem is the constant “ringing” Turner remembers from war experiences affects his everyday life. Turners tone of voice in the beginning of the poem differs from the tone of the voice in end of the poem. In the first couple of lines Turner introduces what the ringing is and why it is constantly in his head. Then towards the end of the poem, Turner uses more vivid language to describe certain images and events he went through to get the constant ringing playing in his mind. For example, in the beginning, words like; “this ringing,” “bullet borne,” and “static,” are used to describe what the ringing represents, and what it can be compared to. Then in the end language like, “muzzle-flash,” and “gravestones,” describe images he remembers from war. The change in the language creates different atmospheres. In the beginning the reader just feels they are reading descriptive language, but the language in the end makes the reader feel they are there in the setting of the poem. This specific structure is important for ideas to flow
Owen’s poem uses symbolism to bring home the harsh reality of war the speaker has experienced and forces the reader to think about the reality presented in romanticized poetry that treats war gently. He utilizes language that imparts the speakers experiences, as well as what he, his companions, and the dying man feels. People really die and suffer and live through nightmares during a war; Owen forcefully demonstrates this in “Dulce et Decorum Est”. He examines the horrific quality of World War I and transports the reader into the intense imagery of the emotion and experience of the speaker.
The poem shows that the young man grows up to become a fighter who does not know when to stop all in the matter of a few lines that amount to one sentence. Then in an even shorter sentence, he dies in combat. Writing this as two sentences accentuates the idea that life is short, but can even be shorter if we can not get along. The speaker’s mourning tone probably ponders if the man avoided fighting maybe he could have lived longer as suggested when mentioning killing war elephants were not enough for the man who immersed himself in the battleground. By putting oneself in an environment of anger and aggression to the point of a questionable noticing of an arrow inside of oneself can only lead to a shortened
Everything that the speaker is trying to express is tied together by the poem's form. The uneven rhyme is a perfect method of pronouncing the confusion that the speaker is feeling about the world. & nbsp;
The ABAB rhyme scheme is a pattern that can be recognized by many individuals; therefore, it relates to the message that motivation is needed by everybody. Two ABAB rhyme schemes make up each stanza, which symbolizes the positivity and negativity that battle throughout the poem. Guest breaks the rhyme scheme once by rhyming “failure” with “you”. This strategic action emphasizes the different methods that negative individuals use to destroy a person’s ambition. Internal rhyme is included in many lines of the poem to create fluidity and sound pleasing to an audience. The poem is composed of a qualitative iambic meter, giving the syllables a sound of da DUM. A pleasing flow is observed through the fairly consistent line length and line syllable number. The lines throughout the poem end in both stressed and unstressed syllables, referencing the battle between discouragement and
depict a fantasy world are a lot more interesting to watch. People don't want to