Day 643, The Greatest Anti-War Poem...

[pseudoparadigmx]

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks

Comments

[kajurin]

I've had to analyze that poem on several occasions, but then again, that was against my will. All the same, it remains one of my favorites.

[pseudoparadigmx]

I'm not sure that my analysis came out too well for it, because it is a bit confusing as I read through it. Anyways though, I just read it the other day in my Lit class and I wanted to show this to others, especially the ones that hate poetry, like I did for some time, that there's tons of meaning in them.

Definitely one of my favorites.

[mishamouse16]

that poem makes me sad...i cant think of the right word right now.

[pseudoparadigmx]

The imagery in it is very brutal and visceral, evoking realizations tinted with morose and gloom. It's difficult to take in. Sure, we see the movies, but I don't think many of us, including myself, know the true tragedies of war. War is permanently unforgiving and terribly realistic.

[mishamouse16]

yeah thats very tru.

[pseudoparadigmx]

Yeah, I was forced to read tons of poetry in middle and high school, but the thing with that is the teachers never bothered to give any insight to what the poem represented. Now I didn't pay much attention to them either, but I distinctly remember them caring about the meaning as much as I did.

I just started getting into literary analysis and explicating poetry thanks in all part to my literature teacher at HCC, J. Rubinstein. Hilarious, talkative, slightly arrogant good teacher. He has the most useful random knowledge about worldly events and crises too. He's a major sports fan, especially that of boxing, football, and baseball--moreso boxing. Very easy to talk to, but expects good work as any teacher does.

Thanks. I'm thinking about doing some more. I'd love to analyze some short stories that I've read, but some are like 10-15 pages long, and yeah... no. Not happening.

[luminous_manic]

Damn, wow, that's a pretty bold poem. This basically explains war in a nutshell, yknow.

[pseudoparadigmx]

Yeah, the poem hits home whether you're pro-war or anti-war, like myself. I mean if you really do support the troops over there, help those guys get out of that horrible, hellish environment. I'd imagine that many of them are not there to be a Solid Snake or a Rambo. The torments that crush them mentally and physically have to be impressively overwhelming

[luminous_manic]

Quite frankly, my good man, I'm anti-war. I seriously don't see the point in all this mindless murder.

[pseudoparadigmx]

Glad to hear it, bro. We have enough problems in society without having to go 'gainst each other in war.

[toxic_lifesaver]

I have seen this poem analyzed many times, and you by far did the best job out of all I have read. Kudos to you because this isn't a particularly easy one to analyze.

[pseudoparadigmx]

Thanks. I mean the literal picture is pretty clear when you just read the poem, but there's a lot of implications in this poem that some may not have seen. And I'm sure you guys can read it and give me a different view or link something else with it. So, I'm interested in what you guys think too.

[toxic_lifesaver]

no,you pretty much nailed everything that I could think of.