Vergissmeinnicht

**Vergissmeinnicht by Keith Douglas (1920-1944) **
Page 844, Number 221, Poems for Further Reading

Three weeks gone and the combatants gone, returning over the nightmare ground we found the place again, and found the soldier sprawling in the sun.

The frowning barrel of his gun overshadowing. As we came on that day, he hit my tank with one like the entry of a demon.

Look. Here in the gunpit spoil the dishonored picture of his girl who has put: //Steffi, Vergissmeinnicht// in a copybook gothic script.

We see him almost with content abased, and seeming to have paid <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">and mocked at by his own equipment <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">that's hard and good when he's decayed.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">But she would weep to see today <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">how on his skin the swart flies move; <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">the dust upon the paper eye <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">and the burst stomach like a cave.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For here the lover and killer are mingled <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">who had one body and one heart. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">And death who had the soldier singled <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">has done the lover mortal hurt. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Keith Douglas was an English poet born on January 24, 1920 in Kent. He was attended school at Christ’s Hospital and the University of Oxford. His childhood was difficult with his mother often sick and his father working in other cities to support his family. Like his father, a retired Captain in the Marines, Douglas too joined England’s armed forces. In 1939, within days of England’s declaration of war against Germany, Douglas enlisted in the army, became an officer and was eventually deployed to North Africa were he saw combat. He was a successful officer, attained the rank of Captain and was given command of a company of tanks. In December of 1943 he returned to England to prepare for a second deployment in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Three days after landing, on June 9, 1944, Douglas was killed in action by enemy mortar fire and was buried in France at the Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery. Although he was a poet before going to war, many of his most well regarded works come from his combat experiences, including “Desert Flowers” and “Alamein to Zem Zem”.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"And death who had the soldier singled" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"dishonored picture of his girl" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"on his skin the swart flies move" || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">War has a desensitizing nature about it; senses of grisly appearance lose their shocking effect <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Six Stanzas <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Each line has from 7 to 11 syllables <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">24 Lines || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The four lined, sparsely punctuated stanzas create an effect of chronological order that conveys the narrator’s thoughts and observations as he approached and examined the battlefield remains <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"frowning barrel of his gun overshadowing" - Surreal <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"returning over the nightmare ground" - Déjà vu <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"we found the place again" - Reminiscent <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"We see him almost with content" - Desensitized <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"death [...] has done the lover mortal hurt" - Pitiful <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"dishonored picture of his girl" - Ability to relate on a human level || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Readers Feel
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">TIME || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Examples from Text || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Explanation/Impact ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Theme || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"We see him almost with content"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Regardless of affiliation, the destructive nature of war steals otherwise normal lives
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">War is ultimately between humans; even the enemy has a life back home relatable to your own
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The nature of war is not pretty, it is not easy to observe and has an eerie way of haunting through memory ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Imagery || **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Personification **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "frowning barrel of his gun"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "and mocked at by his own equipment"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Simile **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "stomach like a cave"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "like the entry of a demon"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Metaphor **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "nightmare ground"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "paper eye"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Repetition **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Three weeks gone and the combatants gone"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Usage if German **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Vergissmeinnicht"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Title repeated in poem ** || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The personifications of that artillery and equipment develop the surreal tone of the poem by making inanimate objects come to like in a dream-like fashion.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The similes are used to help articulate Douglas’ impressions of his observations with greater detail. The metaphors serve a similar purpose, that being to help add depth to Douglas’ descriptions
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The repetition helps connect seemingly dissimilar references such as the passage of time and the disappearance of combatants
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The usage of German adds a sense of realism and deepens the narrator’s ability to convey his own experience
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Having the title focus on a small detail of his memory, a picture he found, shows the great significance it had emotionally on him ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Meter || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rhyme Scheme: ABBA, CDCD, EEFF, GHGH, IJIJ
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The poem is separated into his differing trains of thought by the stanzas and varying rhyme structures. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emotions || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"But she would weep to see today" - Solemn
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Solemn
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Surreal
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Déjà vu
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reminiscent
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Desensitized
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Pitiful
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Ability to relate on a human level
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The narrator’s sets a surreal mood to the poem as he visits with words, a previously fought over battlefield
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This helps readers grasp an understanding of his war experiences and a glimps into his impressions of the desensitizing nature of combat. ||

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Works Cited "Keyes and Douglas." //Chive James//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://www.clivejames.com/pieces/metropolitan/keyes-douglas>. "Vergissmeinnicht." //Tripod//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://mistero.tripod.com/essays/vergissmein.html>.