'Dead Man's Dump' by Isaac Rosenberg
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The plunging limbers over the shattered track
Racketed with their rusty freight,
Stuck out like many crowns of thorns,
And the rusty stakes like sceptres old
To stay the flood of brutish men
Upon our brothers dear.
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched;
Their shut mouths made no moan,
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
Earth has waited for them,
All the time of their growth
Fretting for their decay:
Now she has them at last!
In the strength of her strength
Suspended—stopped and held.
What fierce imaginings their dark souls lit
Earth! Have they gone into you?
Somewhere they must have gone,
And flung on your hard back
Is their souls' sack,
Emptied of God-ancestralled essences.
Who hurled them out? Who hurled?
None saw their spirits' shadow shake the grass,
Or stood aside for the half-used life to pass
Out of those doomed nostrils and the doomed mouth,
When the swift iron burning bee
Drained the wild honey of their youth.
What of us, who flung on the shrieking pyre,
Walk, our usual thoughts untouched,
Our lucky limbs as on ichor fed,
Immortal seeming ever?
Perhaps when the flames beat loud on us,
A fear may choke in our veins
And the startled blood may stop.
The air is loud with death,
The dark air spurts with fire,
The explosions ceaseless are.
Timelessly now, some minutes past,
These dead strode time with vigorous life,
Till the shrapnel called "an end!"
But not to all. In bleeding pangs
Some borne on stretchers dreamed of home,
Dear things, war-blotted from their hearts.
A man's brains splattered on
A stretcher-bearer's face;
His shook shoulders slipped their load,
But when they bent to look again
The drowning soul was sunk too deep
For human tenderness.
They left this dead with the older dead,
Stretched at the cross roads.
Burnt black by strange decay,
Their sinister faces lie
The lid over each eye,
The grass and coloured clay
More motion have than they,
Joined to the great sunk silences.
Here is one not long dead;
His dark hearing caught our far wheels,
And the choked soul stretched weak hands
To reach the living word the far wheels said,
The blood-dazed intelligence beating for light,
Crying through the suspense of the far torturing wheels
Swift for the end to break,
Or the wheels to break,
Cried as the tide of the world broke over his sight.
Will they come? Will they ever come?
Even as the mixed hoofs of the mules,
The quivering-bellied mules,
And the rushing wheels all mixed
With his tortured upturned sight.
So we crashed round the bend,
We heard his weak scream,
We heard his very last sound,
And our wheels grazed his dead face.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Dead Man's Dump: A Literary Criticism
Isaac Rosenberg's Dead Man's Dump is a haunting and powerful poem that explores the horrors of war and the human cost of conflict. Written during World War I, the poem is a stark reminder of the brutality and devastation of war.
Overview
The poem is divided into six stanzas, each with four lines. The first stanza sets the scene, describing the aftermath of a battle. The second stanza focuses on the dead soldiers, and the third stanza on the animals that have been killed. The fourth stanza describes the landscape, which has been torn apart by the fighting. The fifth stanza is a reflection on the futility of war, and the final stanza is a call for peace.
Analysis
The poem begins with a vivid description of the aftermath of a battle:
The plunging limbers over the shattered track
Racketed with their rusty freight,
Stuck out like many crowns of thorns,
And the rusty stakes like sceptres old
To stay the flood of brutish men
Upon our brothers dear.
The image of the "plunging limbers" and the "shattered track" creates a sense of chaos and destruction. The "rusty freight" and "rusty stakes" suggest that this is not a recent battle, but one that has been fought for some time. The use of the word "brothers" in the final line of the stanza emphasizes the human cost of war.
The second stanza focuses on the dead soldiers:
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan.
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
The description of the wheels "lurching over sprawled dead" creates a sense of indifference and callousness. The soldiers are no longer individuals, but just a pile of "huddled" bodies. The use of the phrase "friend and foeman" emphasizes the senselessness of war, as these men were once on opposite sides but are now equal in death.
The third stanza shifts the focus to the animals that have been killed:
Earth has waited for them,
All the time of their growth
Fretting for their decay:
Now she has them at last!
In the strength of their strength
Suspended--stopped and held.
The personification of the earth waiting for the dead animals creates a sense of inevitability and the natural cycle of life and death. The use of the phrase "the strength of their strength" suggests that these animals were once powerful and majestic, but are now powerless in death.
The fourth stanza describes the landscape:
What signs of life they had
Mockery obliterate--
Obliterate!
Till the circuit of the stars
Look down on nothing but blood,
And the war-lord's horse ploughs up the bowels of men
When the long "hope" of light
Broods in the sweating man
Her light shines on the dead
Their night is full of hers.
The use of the word "obliterate" emphasizes the destruction and loss of life that war brings. The reference to the "war-lord's horse" suggests that the leaders of the conflict are responsible for the destruction. The phrase "the long 'hope' of light" suggests that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope for a better future.
The fifth stanza is a reflection on the futility of war:
Still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
The use of the phrase "unresting castles" suggests that war is a never-ending cycle of destruction and rebuilding. The repetition of "afresh" emphasizes the senselessness of this cycle.
The final stanza is a call for peace:
Peace upon earth!
to men of good will
All war's horror
let it cease.
The use of the phrase "to men of good will" suggests that peace can only be achieved through the actions of individuals who are committed to it. The repetition of "let it cease" emphasizes the urgent need for an end to war and the hope for a better future.
Interpretation
Dead Man's Dump is a powerful and haunting poem that explores the horrors of war and the human cost of conflict. The poem emphasizes the destruction and loss of life that war brings, and highlights the senselessness of this cycle of destruction and rebuilding.
Rosenberg's use of vivid and evocative imagery creates a sense of chaos and devastation, and the repetition of key phrases emphasizes the urgency of the call for peace. The poem is a stark reminder of the brutality and devastation of war, and a powerful plea for an end to conflict.
Overall, Dead Man's Dump is a timeless work of poetry that continues to resonate with readers today. Its message of peace and hope for a better future is as relevant now as it was a century ago, and it serves as a powerful reminder of the cost of war and the need for peace.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Dead Man's Dump: A Poem of War and Death
Isaac Rosenberg's Dead Man's Dump is a haunting and powerful poem that captures the horrors of war and the senseless loss of human life. Written during World War I, the poem is a stark reminder of the brutality and devastation of war, and the toll it takes on both the living and the dead.
The poem is divided into three sections, each of which explores a different aspect of the war and its aftermath. The first section describes the scene of a battlefield, where the dead lie scattered and forgotten. The second section focuses on the soldiers who fought and died in the war, and the third section reflects on the futility of war and the meaninglessness of the sacrifices made by those who fought in it.
The first section of the poem sets the scene of a battlefield, where the dead lie scattered and forgotten. The opening lines of the poem describe the "grey, flat, dreary waste" of the battlefield, where the dead lie "huddled and still." The imagery here is stark and bleak, conveying the sense of desolation and emptiness that pervades the scene. The use of the word "grey" suggests a lack of color and life, while the word "flat" implies a sense of lifelessness and stagnation.
The second stanza of the first section describes the bodies of the dead in more detail, painting a vivid picture of the gruesome aftermath of battle. The bodies are described as "broken and maimed," with "heads and limbs" scattered about. The use of the word "maimed" suggests a sense of violence and brutality, while the image of the scattered limbs conveys a sense of chaos and disorder.
The third stanza of the first section introduces the idea of the dead being forgotten, as the soldiers who fought in the war move on and leave the battlefield behind. The dead are described as "forgotten" and "unseen," their bodies left to decay and rot in the mud. The use of the word "unseen" suggests a sense of invisibility and insignificance, as if the dead have been erased from history and memory.
The second section of the poem focuses on the soldiers who fought and died in the war. The opening lines of the section describe the soldiers as "men who went out to battle, grim and glad." The use of the word "grim" suggests a sense of determination and resolve, while the word "glad" implies a sense of patriotism and duty.
The second stanza of the second section describes the soldiers' experiences in battle, painting a vivid picture of the chaos and violence of war. The soldiers are described as "charging an army, while all the world wondered." The use of the word "charging" suggests a sense of bravery and courage, while the phrase "all the world wondered" implies a sense of awe and admiration for the soldiers' bravery.
The third stanza of the second section describes the soldiers' deaths, as they fall "like cattle" on the battlefield. The use of the word "cattle" suggests a sense of dehumanization and objectification, as if the soldiers were nothing more than animals to be slaughtered. The image of the soldiers falling "in a row" conveys a sense of order and discipline, as if their deaths were part of a larger plan or strategy.
The third section of the poem reflects on the futility of war and the meaninglessness of the sacrifices made by those who fought in it. The opening lines of the section describe the soldiers' sacrifices as "vain," suggesting that their deaths were for nothing. The use of the word "vain" implies a sense of futility and hopelessness, as if the soldiers' sacrifices were ultimately meaningless.
The second stanza of the third section describes the soldiers' deaths as a "waste," suggesting that their lives were thrown away for no good reason. The use of the word "waste" implies a sense of loss and regret, as if the soldiers' deaths were a tragedy that could have been avoided.
The final stanza of the poem reflects on the senselessness of war and the need for peace. The speaker asks, "What candles may be held to speed them all?" suggesting that there is no way to honor the dead or make sense of their sacrifices. The use of the word "candles" implies a sense of mourning and remembrance, as if the dead deserve to be honored and remembered. The final lines of the poem, "Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes/Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes," suggest that the only way to find meaning in the soldiers' sacrifices is to look to the future and work for a better world, one in which war and violence are no longer necessary.
In conclusion, Dead Man's Dump is a powerful and haunting poem that captures the horrors of war and the senseless loss of human life. Through its vivid imagery and stark language, the poem conveys a sense of despair and hopelessness, as well as a call to action for a better world. As we remember the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in wars throughout history, we must also work to create a world in which war and violence are no longer necessary, and in which the dead are honored and remembered for their sacrifices.
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