Vergissmeinnicht, 'forget me not' in German, is a poem on war. For this poem it is important for the reader to understand the background of the author. Keith Douglas served in North Africa during World War 2 and was killed in action during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 at the age of 24. Douglas's most famous and moving works were written during the war and were published after his death.
Knowing this, it becomes obvious that the Speaker of this poem is the poet himself. The speaker is reflecting on the horrors of war and the needless death and fighting that comes with it. The speaker even shows a form of compassion for a dead and decaying soldier. He sees the corpse as a person rather than a statistic of war. The fallen soldier is an enemy gunner, yet he still feels compassion for him and his beloved, "the dishonored picture of his girl/ who has put: Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht/ in a copybook gothic script."( 10-12). This compassion can also be seen in the last couplet, "And death who had the soldier singled/ has done the lover mortal hurt."(23-24). This couplet can also be seen as a paradox of war. The speaker also shows a persons mortality my mocking the mocking how people hide behind their equipment during war, expecting to be saved, "and mocked at by his own equipment/ that's hard and good when he's decayed."(15-16). The speaker realizes that we are fragile and mortal creatures, "[...] on his skin the swart flies move;/ the dust upon the paper eye/ and the burst stomach like a cave." (18-20), and that not even the most expensive equipment can save us from death. The speaker seems to give us a first hand account of the follies of war.
There is no stable rhyme scheme in this poem. The rhyme constantly changes, sometimes being ABBA, AAAA, or ABAB. This unstable rhyme scheme seems to mimic the randomness of war, and the changing conditions and situations. It represents the different feelings of the soldiers, the constantly changing war plays. Without a steady rhyme scheme poems can get messy, but this poem it able to stay neat and tidy with the help of syllabic verse. Each line has either 8 or 9 syllables which give it a rhythm without the help of a steady rhyme scheme. Many of the lines also are run-on lines, making it seem like his thoughts are rushing from one thing to the next without stopping. This makes the poem almost like a stream of consciousness, but without the confusing break-offs and references to prior events.
There are many devices used in this poem to convey the author's view and stance on war. Imagery is a big component of this poem and can bee seen throughout the whole work. The use of imagery gives the feeling of restless passion and misery that is haunting the speaker. For example, "nightmare ground" (2) shows the suffering of war, as does "the soldier sprawling in the sun."(4). Imagery allows the reader to enter the mind and scene of the speaker/poet and become one with the poem. Personification is also a prominent device used in this poem. "The frowning barrel of his gun"(5) and "and mocked at by his own equipment"(15) are two examples of the personification used in this poem. Personification allows the reader to further connect to the poem and helps one picture the situation being explained. Repetition of words in the same line is also a literary device that Douglas uses in this poem. The repetition of the words gone, found, and one can be seen in lines 1, 3, and 22. When reading these lines, the repetition reminds one of the sound of a machine gun spitting out bullets, the shot and the echo or the hit. From this, the sense of war is further reinforced onto the reader.
I thought that this poem tastefully represted the short comings and horrors brought about by war. It was not over descriptive on its accounts of the gore, yet it was able to get its point across. This is now one of my favorite poems. I found it to be so touching in a way that I cannot describe. My favorite line from this poem is " For here the lover and the killer are mingled/ who had one body and one heart." (21-22). I like this line because it really just shows how the killer is connected to the lover by the deceased man, and even though they were on different sides, they both had but one body and one heart to share with others on this earth.
1 comment:
I really liked this poem as well because, although it was very graphic at some points, it was not overdone. I think this poem represented the human side of war and the poet's realization that to him this man was an enemy but he was so much more beyond that. The poet does a really good job of helping the reader to relate to the situation by personalizing it with the reference to his "dishonored picture of his girl"(9). I agree with your analysis of the jumbled rhyme scheme as well and the run-on sentences. It seems that the poet is trying to release his pent up emotions over the scene of the dead enemy soldier and the varying rhyme scheme definitely contributes to the overall randomness and confusion of war. The mixed up emotions that war provokes was represented by this changing scheme. Knowing that the poet was in WWII definitely makes the poem more touching to me as well because it seems more like a personal account of the emotions he felt.
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