Hardy lived during the time of Word War I and the events of the war influenced many of his poems. His poem “Channel Firing” was written before World War I which shows that had a huge impact on the thoughts of Thomas Hardy. Hardy wrote “All nations striving strong to make/ Red war yet redder. Mad as hatters, they do no more for Christes sake, Than you who are helpless in such matters” (third stanza).These verses of the poems show the madness and helplessness of war. Later Hardy attempts to justify why war is necessary, but here he shows the hatefulness of war. “All nations striving strong to make/ Red war yet redder” (third stanza), this give me an image of complete chaos. I imagine a sea of people from all over the world, or in this case near the English Channel, just slaughtering one another. I know that “slaughter” is not a very appealing word, but it conveys the intended meaning of a “Red war yet redder.” Since this particular poem is refereeing to military exercises this verse is of particular interest. He doesn’t take sides, he mentions “All nations” (1line 14), and this is a way of sharing the blame. Saying that all are partaking, all are striving to cause the chaos that is war. His concise words and thoughts added to the poem immensely.
Marie,
ReplyDeleteGood focus and some good comments on Hardy's poem, with well chosen quotations and good observations. Good job.