Ashbah by Brian Turner an Iraqi war veteran

The ghosts of American soldiers

wander the streets of Balad by night,

unsure of their way home, exhausted,

the desert wind blowing trash

down the narrow alleys as a voice

sounds from the minaret, a soulfull call

reminding them how alone they are,

how lost. And the Iraqi dead,

they watch in silence from rooftops

as date palms line the shore in silhouette,

leaning toward Mecca when the dawn wind blows.

Easter, 1916 Vs. Break of Day in the Trenches

The poem Easter, 1916 by Yeats uses some obvious and not so obvious metaphors to describe the revolution of Ireland against the British in 1916. I think that Yeats is mainly saying in the first stanza that he is acquaintances with many of the revolutionaries at the time and he may not believe in their revolutionary tactics but he talks to them about it anyway. He then goes on to describe some of the people who were killed by the British whom he knew pretty well. The third stanza I think is talking about how many of the revolutionaries have only one purpose and their hearts are of stone meaning that no matter what happens they want this change in their country. And that many bad things may happen, but they will still fight for their beliefs. The recurring line "A terrible beauty is born" seems to represent the fact that even though many revolutionaries died at the hands of the British for their actions, their deaths inspired the rest of the country to fight for the same reasons they did and the country became more unified against the British.

This poem is different in its message than the poem by Rosenberg called Break of Day in the Trenches. Yeats' poem implies that the war that was fought was meaningful and the deaths of the people he described were important and not in vain. In Rosenberg's poem, he is stating that war is pointless and useless and all it does is cause unnecessary death and destruction. The subject of the poem is praising a rat because he is lucky that he does not have to deal with this war and worry about dying for a useless cause. The language in this poem is more depressing than than of Yeats'.

Boredom

The word boredom is used now quite loosely,
But I just can't condone its existence.
Information arises profusely
It's the root of all opportunistence.



If you're bored
You aren't trying.
In fact, the word Boredom should be synonymous with opportunity.

Hap

The poem "Hap" by Thomas Hardy begins with the speaker suggesting that his or her sadness is the result of a cruel act of the Gods. In the second stanza the speaker goes on to claim that this hate from the Gods is completely undeserved, but he or she is at least "half-eased" that their suffering is being used for some good since it is giving the Gods pleasure. I concluded this from the following lines:

Half-eased, too, that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed

These lines may also mean that since the speaker knows that the Gods are the ones controlling his emotional fate, then he knows that there is indeed a greater power and this is somehow reassuring to them. In the third stanza, the poem turns to propose that the speakers suffering is not the work of the Gods but it is much more simple than that. Their sadness instead comes from the inevitable workings of Time and Chance, and the speaker believes that chance and time have treated them very poorly throughout the years. It seems as though the speaker does not enjoy happiness because they knows how likely it is that sadness is in their near future and that the short happiness is just a tease.

This poem is similar to many of Hardy's poems since they all seem to have a common theme. The theme that he uses a lot is that everything you perceive is not always what it seems. In this poem, the speaker at first thinks that his sorrow is the work of Gods but then reasons to himself that it is just the result of Time and Chance. In the poem "An, Are You Digging On My Grave" the woman believes that the person digging on her grave is a loved one since she thought everyone missed her so much, but in reality she was not as important as she thought. Also, in the poem "The Ruined Maid" 'Melia's old friend thought she had moved up in the world and gotten a better job because she looked as if she was rich when in reality her new job was as a prostitute.

I agree with Hardy in that it seems as if Time and Chance play the two major roles in determining the outcomes of all situations. In contrast to his overly depressing view I believe that with time and the desire for healthy introspection and reflection upon events, the human mind can turn any adversity into a lesson learned at the very least and maybe something much more mentally beneficial.