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| A picture of Martin Armstrong. |
When I first read Armstrong’s poem (which you can read here), I thought immediately of the song “One Day More” from Les Mis. Though the musical is set in a different time and conflict, this song sets the same stage as the poem. It describes the time before the battle, men who are really boys are readying themselves to fight and enjoying the last few hours of their life.
“Before the Battle” opens on a somber note, describing the mole-like life soldiers in the trenches live and the dead land that surrounds them. It is gloomy but “memory like the rose” provides an escape. Those memories are of another life these men once led where they frolicked by rivers and enjoyed time with friends. To understand this poem one does not really need to read into the text, however, analyzing the flashback portion of the poem provides a few interesting insights.
First and foremost is the symbolism of water and the river where the men are swimming. One of the first things I learned in English class is that water and rivers are symbolic of life, a connection that highlights the lifelike and vibrant nature of these young men before going into battle. The choice of a river is interesting for another reason though. Here water is indicative of life and a positive element of the memory while at the beginning of the poem (and the end) the trenches are “waterlogged.” In WWI, water flooded trenches and made life miserable for the people in them, so it is important to note the irony that the same thing that made men so happy in one situation makes like miserable in the trenches.
Another repeated element is the willow tree. That took a little more research, but eventually I found that the willow tree, like water, represents life. It also relates to adaptability and survival since willow trees are famously resilient.** They are the epitome of bend don’t break, a necessary quality in a good soldier.
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A willow tree by water. Sometimes these trees are portrayed as motherly and protective, like in the Disney film Pocahontas. |
Unfortunately, the happy memory in the poem concludes with the bugle calling the men to action where they form orderly rows. The individuality is gone. Bert, who dived into the river in the last stanza is just another member of the party of men. And then the memory is shattered fully when Armstrong tells us that these men “lie in narrow chambers underground.” They are dead. Just like the opening of this poem reminded me of “One Day More” from Les Miserables, this section reminds me of the song “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.”
Finally, the poem returns to the miserable setting described in the first stanza, emphasizing the terrible conditions of wet trenches and rainstorms. Then it concludes with Armstrong asking for another day to enjoy “sun and leaves… and the laughing stream," but all that is only a memory. Now is the time for battle.
Hey Sydney!
ReplyDeleteSo as a fan of the musical Les Mis, I appreciate the comparison you made to the poem. I must admit, the poem as a flashback from before the war compared very nicely to the musical and the cycle of rotation that the men had between the trenches. If they weren't on the frontline, they were either in the reserve line or behind the lines. The poem compares best to the life of soldiers in the last line away from the trench, where they could wash up and get a hot meal in their stomachs. There is very strong imagery in the poem, and it reminds me of the hunger games. the line "But memory like the rose Wakes and puts forth her bright and odorous blooms" is very similar to the character of President Snow, who uses roses to mask the smell of blood he is surrounded by on a daily basis. This relationship of flowers and death is also very personal to me because I can no longer stand the smell of Lillies because they only remind me of death. My dad owned two funeral homes and the flower decorations often contained this flower, which I had to be around almost daily. It is a very odd thing to have a beautiful object, concept, or action taken and turned into a negative thing. It happens in this poem when the flashback of the boys in the river cleaning is turned into a river of death flowing through the trenches.