Oh, there were fifteen men in green,
Each with a tommy-gun,
Who leapt into my plane at dawn;
We rose to meet the sun.
We set our course towards the east
And climbed into the day
Till the ribbed jungle underneath
Like a giant fossil lay.
We climbed towards the distant range,
Where two white paws of cloud
Clutched at the shoulders of the pass;
The green men laughed aloud.
They did not fear the ape-like cloud
That climbed the mountain crest
And hung from ropes invisible
With lightning in its breast.
They did not fear the summer's sun
In whose hot centre lie
A hundred hissing cannon shells
For the unwatchful eye.
And when on Dobadura's field
We landed, each man raised
His thumb towards the open sky;
But to their right I gazed.
For fifteen men in jungle green
Rose from the kunai grass
And came towards the plane. My men
In silence watched them pass;
It seemed they looked upon themselves
In Times's prophetic glass.
Oh, there were some leaned on a stick
And some on stretchers lay,
But few walked on their own two feet
In the early green of day.
(They did not heed the ape-like cloud
That climbed the mountain crest;
They did not fear the summer sun
With bullets for their breast.)
Their eyes were bright, their looks were dull;
Their skin had turned to clay.
Nature had meet them in the night
And stalked them in the day.
And I think still of men in green
On the Soputa track,
With fifteen spitting tommy-guns
To keep the jungle back.
David Campbell
The Man He Killed Poem
Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.
Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.
Thomas Hardy
For the poem, The Man He Killed
1. Find out when each of the poems was written and which war they are discussing? The poem by Thomas Hardy was written in approximately 1905, shortly after the end of the Boer War, it could've been about a real soldier in the war or just a tale to discuss the point.
<----Men who fought in the Boer War.
2. What aspect of war is each poem exploring? Discuss the subject matter of each poem. In the poem, The Man He Killed, the subject matter is about the uselessness of war. It explores the aspect of; how harsh and unfair war is to the people involved in it. The poem explores the fact that a man killed another man in war, just simply because they were foes and fighting on opposing sides.
3. Discuss the tone/ feelings and emotions conveyed by each poet in their poem. Thomas Hardy, really makes the reader feel sympathetic to the character, and also a sense of uneasiness because of the fact that this young man had killed another man. In addition; there is feelings of regret in the poem because of the main character having to kill the man. In stanza three, Hardy is thinking about why he actually did kill the man. He is trying to convince himself that what he had done was going to happen anyways. Stanza three finishes with the word, "although," which tells the reader that the character is not at ease of what he has done.
4. Identify 3 poetic devices used in each poem and explain their effect in conveying the poets message about war and conflict. Thomas Hardy has used many poetic techniques in this poem, and three of those include; a rhyme/rhyming scheme, repetition and a point of view. First of all, the rhyme scheme. The rhyming scheme in this poem, is (a), (b), (a), (b). An example is in the first stanza,
"Had he and i but met (a)
By some old ancient inn, (b)
We should have set us down to wet (a)
Right many a nipperkin!" (b)
This means that the last word of the first line rhymes with the last word of the 3rd line. (They are both (a)) In addition, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last word of the 4 th line, (both (b)). Rhyme is a sonic device; which plainly means that they are figures of speech and their effect is that is makes the poem sound interesting. Rhyme/rhyming scheme, conveys the poets message about war and conflict, as it makes the reader more engrossed into the poem, and it gives it a sort of beat that makes the reader on their toes and in the feel of the war. Repetition is used quite alot in the poem and especially in the third stanza. The effect fo repetition is that; it drives the point and it emphasises what the poet is trying to say. An example, is seen in the third stanza,
"I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe ofcourse he was;..."
Above it is seen, that the repetition of the word, "because," makes the reader feel that the main character is really tring to figure out a good reason as to why he did shoot the man. It emphasises on the word, "because," and it makes him think, but the plain reason that he did shoot the man, was simply because he was his enemy. It conveys the poets message abut war; as the soldiers don't really have a chance to think or do what they want; they have to follow orders; and those orders are that they have to kill their enemies. The repetition really makes the reader think, and to see that the goal to win war is to kill innocent young men that are simply like they are.
The point of view in the poem, The Man He Killed, is in the first person; as the character of the poem is telling it from his own perspective. His point of view is seen throughout the whole poem. An example is seen on the first line of the first stanza,
"Had he and I but met..."
The effect of the first point of view, is that it allows the reader to feel a very close connection towards the character. This technique conveys the poets message as, it shows how one man has had the feeling of regret and anger of killing an innocent man and how useless war is through his perspective, and imagine how many millions of of other people felt the same uselessness of war.
For the poem, Men in Green
1. Find out when each of the poems was written and which war are they discussing? Men in Green, was first published in 1943, by David Campbell who was in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Papua New Guinea.
2. What aspect of war is each poem exploring? Discuss the subject matter of each poem. The poem is exploring the devastation of war and how it emotionally and physically can damage a person that is involved in war. Although; there is a lighter and positive sense of view at the start of how brave and courageous these young soldiers are; there is a sense of devastation toward the end; however, the soldiers are still seen as very heroic.
3. Discuss the tone/ feelings and emotions conveyed by each poet in their poem. David Campbell, really expresses his deepest and darkest feelings of his experience. The tone is very sympathetic, quite horrific,friendship, sadness and you sense the feeling of bravery. An example of the bravery in the poem,
"...The green men laughed aloud.
They did not fear the ape-like cloud..."
As you can see; the words, "laughed," and "...they did not fear..." really tells the reader that these men were ready to do their best for their country and they also found humour and tried to see the lighter side of things. However, the sadness does show towards the end of the poem; as the reality of war hits in, and the soldiers were injured, but their eyes still showed a sense of hope and courage, but also fear and other dark places.
"...there were some leaned on a stick
And some on stretchers lay,
But few walked on their own two feet..."
4. Identify 3 poetic devices used in each poem and explain their effect in conveying the poets message about war and conflict. David Campbell has used many great poetic devices; but three that i have chosen are; personification, aliteration and a point of view.
Personification is visible through out most of the poem. An example is,
"They did not fear the ape-like cloud
That climbed the mountain crest..." and,
"We climbed towards the distant range,
Where two white paws of cloud
Clutched at the shoulders of the pass;"
As you can see with these examples, Campbell has given an inaminate object with a human trait, as seen with the first example. The cloud (inaminate object) cannot literally climb a mounatin crest; however; it gives you a picture of a cloud climbing or ascending over the mountain crest. The effect of personification, is that it makes it more dramatic and interesting. It also helps the reader relate more to the object/idea that is being personified because it is easier for humans to relate to something with human qualities. This technique conveys the poets message; as it helps you visualise the situation that the men were in and what their surrounding were like; it makes the reader more sympathetic of the view of war during that time.
Another poetic device is; alliteration. An example of this poetic device in the poem is,
"A hundred hissing cannon shells..." and
"With bullets for their breast..."
The top example, shows the repetition of a consonant sound, "hundred and hissing,". The effect of alliteration is that it helps to convey imagery, makes a line more memorable and gives the effect the poet intended such as; sad, loud, happy etc. In this case; it conveys an image of hundreds of heckling/loud/disturbing cannon shells, and it gives a mood of a sort of unpleasurable mood that is quite horrific and scary. This device conveys the poets message; as some of the alliteration examples may be a nice and pleasant feeling or image, but, in this poem, the alliteration really is unpleasant and disturbing, which is probably what David Campbell was trying to achieve. He isn't promoting war, he is trying to demote war and violence.
Lastly, there is the point of view, which is interesting because this poem is told by David Campbell (the writer of the poem). He was obviously involved in the war and in the RAAF, and he has had first hand experience of the war life. This poem is told from the first person point of view; and that gives the reader the absolute certainty that everything told in this poem is nothign but the truth and reality of war. Readers can really connect with Campbell, and it almost makes the reader feel that they are in his situation and in his poem. Also; it helps the reader see war through someone's eyes that has been involved in the war. An example of how this poem is used in the first person's point of view is,
"And i think still of men in green..." and,
"But to their right i gazed..."
Using the word, "I," really shows that HE has experienced all of what is written in the poem. This technique conveys the poets message, as it gives first hand experience of how horrible war is and how it drains the life out of bright young men.
5. Which poem do you think is most effective in conveying the ideas and feelings associated with war ? Explain your choice with direct refernces to the text. I think the poem, Men in Green, by David Campbell, is most effective in conveying the ideas and feelings associated with war. I chose Campbell's poem as i felt a deeper connection with the writer; as it was what he saw through his own eyes and his experience of war. He really shows the brightest and darkest sides of war. His creative words and different poetic devices really help the reader in being in that situation and seeing the surroudings through his eyes. There is great imagery and deep words which really gives the message about war. His idea of war is that it isn't something you want to go through and experience. He explains that even HE still has memories of the men and even probably has nightmares of how horrific his experience was. However; there is still a kind of light mood to the poem, as he writes of how heroic and how their mateship was strong, which is something that helped the soldiers get through the days. An example of how Campbell really uses imagery to show the horrific views that he saw is,
"Their eyes were bright, their looks were dull;
Their skin had turned to clay.
Nature had meet them in the night
And stalked them in the day."
David Campbell
