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What Were They Like? - Denise Levertov (Language ("All the bones were…
What Were They Like? - Denise Levertov
Context
"the burned mouth"
Levertov strongly opposed the USAs involvement in the war and this poem imagined a future after the war.
The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to 1975. During this period the US army inflicted geat amounts of damage on ordinary citizens through poison gas attacks and raping women.
Language
"Sir, their light hearts turned to stone"
The formal tone of the language can be interpreted as insincere or sarcastic, suggesting that the reader is hiding the extent of their feelings about the war.
The formality suggests that there is a hierarchy between the speakers, but it is ambiguous as to what the relationship is exactly.
"All the bones were charred"
Language of devastation is used to convey the consequences of warfare in vivid detail and warn the reader that what is destroyed will never be again.
This suggests that the devastation has gone so deep that it has burnt through the flesh and reached bone.
The change from bone referring to ivory to it referring to dead bodies shows the change in Vietnam.
Themes
"there were no more buds."
The use of nature to describe such conflict creates a juxtaposition between the violence of war and the peace of the destruction left behind.
The lack of buds suggests that there will be no regeneration and the writer believe that the Vietnamese war will have a lasting effect on the country.
"there was time only to scream" // "quiet laughter"
The theme of the effect of conflict is shown by the contrast in the ways of the Vietnamese before and during the war.
The fact that even such a quiet people have been moved make such violent sounds highlights the atrocity of war for ordinary, peaceful people.
Structure
"3) Were they inclined to quiet laughter?" [..] "3) Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth."
The corresponding questions and answers make the reader confused as to how to approach the poem, which mirrors the discomfort and unease of the Vietnam War.
It is not immediately identifiable as free verse poetry, similar to how the old Vietnam is now unidentifiable.
"Who can say? It is silent now."
The use of caesura creates natural pauses, which allow the reader to reflect on the deep sense of loss.
The pauses mirror the quietness that comes after war, when everything has been destroyed.