Lake
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 注册时间: 2007-01-09
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 发表于: 2009-12-11 08:15:31 发表主题: 
I was glad to see the longer version in the comment file, which helped to put the poem more in perspective. There is undoubted sympathy for the youth of the boy, but as a professional volunteer soldier (a non-draftee, as in the Vietnam War days) he surely must have expected deployment to some hotspot in the world where the US government is proceeding with its Global War on Terror --- otherwise inelegantly known as GWOT. Anyone who has joined the US military since 2001 knows that he (and sometimes she) is going to get sent somewhere to shoot at people and get shot at or blown up in return. The poignant bit is that apart from friends and family at home nobody really gives a shit what happens to these boys (and girls), and I'm not only talking about the world at large, but the USA itself. It's time to search the unvisited dusty shelves and pull down Kipling's "Soldiers Tales" ... especially his paean to the private soldier, Tommy Atkins, which reads as fresh and as pertinently today as it did when it was written more than a hundred years ago. But the New World is not big on military history; it has even forgotten Vietnam, a disaster scarcely a generation old ....
TOMMY by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
dedalus 06:35 AM
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Lake
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注册时间: 2007-01-09
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发表于: 2009-12-13 13:32:21 发表主题:
This is a short but very effective poem, Lake. Its brevity gives it its impact, and it's reminiscent of another short war poem by Randall Jarrell:
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner*
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
As in Jarrell's poem, your poem's strength lies in the fact that it leaves out the politics and just shows the carnage. We can all make up our minds as to the meaning or meaninglessness of "Afghanistan," but one thing's for sure: there will be human wreckage in any deployment.
QUOTE (dedalus @ Dec 11 2009, 01:35 AM) *
... There is undoubted sympathy for the youth of the boy, but as a professional volunteer soldier (a non-draftee, as in the Vietnam War days) he surely must have expected deployment to some hotspot in the world where the US government is proceeding with its Global War on Terror ... Anyone who has joined the US military since 2001 knows that he (and sometimes she) is going to get sent somewhere to shoot at people and get shot at or blown up in return. The poignant bit is that apart from friends and family at home nobody really gives a shit what happens to these boys (and girls), and I'm not only talking about the world at large, but the USA itself.
One does wonder what would prompt anyone to join the ranks of the enlisted in a volunteer military, especially today. The lure of "college money" or even the prospect of being rewarded with a career in which one gets to wear jackboots at home upon return seems hardly sufficient. Granted, there's plenty of subversion and propaganda coming from the government, but an enlistee would have to be pretty deluded to not realize that he is likely to be deployed to invade another country and kill or be killed. As the old saying goes, "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword."
As an American, I would like to point out that there are many Americans who oppose the Anglo-American acts of aggression being perpetrated around the world under the guise of a ridiculous "War on Terror." Terrorism is, after all, a tactic. It's not an enemy, and one cannot wage war on it.
I, myself, find it difficult to be very sympathetic. Support the troops? What does that mean? I can only "support the troops" by saying, "Bring them home!" I have always been outspoken against their "mission," that is, against their current unjust cause(s). Their plight is both tragic and a shame.
QUOTE (Lake @ Dec 11 2009, 02:22 PM) *
We all know obeying the order is a soldier's bounden duty ...
While the American soldier might be obligated to follow all lawful orders, he is certainly not obligated to follow, and has a moral duty to resist, all unlawful orders. For example, if American troops were ordered to fire upon the American people, it would be their duty to arrest any officers giving such commands and to deliver them for prosecution and, hopefully, execution. The American military is subservient to the civilian authority; it does not exist of it's own volition. Those civilians acting in the name of America's government who would use America's military to further unjust causes must be held accountable by the American people for their warmongering abroad and, in a case of waging war against the American people, for treason. There are many who agree with this, many who would agree if they weren't asleep, and many who don't care. And not caring is a real shame.
Tony Dec 11 2009, 09:53 PM
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Lake
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注册时间: 2007-01-09
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发表于: 2009-12-17 08:30:39 发表主题:
Very topical, the brevity of the piece avoids the bulkiness that´s easy to subscribe to with a subject that´s surrounded by much opinion, propaganda and various conspiracy theories. I think you nailed the very human element of the subject, in a way that conveys it very well.
regards
Danté
Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:55 pm
Nicely done. So much more effective to say just enough.
Ros Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:40 pm
A touching moment, painted with restraint, Lake, and all the better for it.
Good stuff.
Cheers
David Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:23 pm
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