Vergissmeinnicht Poem by Keith Douglas

Three weeks dead is a ripe convulsive corpse, the imagery is stark, unsettling, graphic, realist, form the personification of the 'frowning barrel of his gun' lies the implication of other hits upon other tanks both made and not made; the last hit was upon the narrator's tank As we came on that day, he hit my tank with one like the entry of a demon. No mention is made of deaths or casualties suffered by the narrator's tank crew, this is a surgical viewing of the fallen enemy, who has been left not on the glorious heroic field of battle but on the 'nightmare ground' unburied. The first stanza introduction to this slain enemy is low key, he is 'found the soldier sprawling in the sun' as if sunbathing. In the third stanza like tourists viewing points of interest in a foreign landscape we are commanded Look. Here in the gunpit spoil the dishonoured picture of his girl who has put: Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht. in a copybook gothic script. ** No pity is immediately expressed, no remorse, the implications of simmering anger and hatred linger, are expressed as We see him almost with content, abased, and seeming to have paid and mocked at by his own equipment that's hard and good when he's decayed. He his paid the price for his past killings in death, even his equipment is valued more than he, his weapons remain hard and good as he decays, will remain formidable when he is completely decayed. The impact of how his corpse looks crawling with flies is delivered through contrast, his girlfriend or wife, remembers him strong youth as he was But she would weep to see today how on his skin the swart flies move; the dust upon the paper eye and the burst stomach like a cave. In the last stanza are intermixed two images, 'lover and killer', the lover she knew who will never return and the killer left to rot. She remembers 'one body and one heart', we have been introduced to the staring face of death; the paper eye dust covered is lifeless, the stomach blown open with a horrific wound like a cave, the open life upon the features of this decaying wreck of youth is 'on his skin the swart flies move'. This is the image we carry into the final stanza, without a prayer we will leave this rotting corpse For here the lover and killer are mingled who had one body and one heart. And death who had the soldier singled has done the lover mortal hurt. Death is stronger than love, love failed to protect the soldier, the lover's heart will beat no more, because death singled this lover out and did his 'lover mortal hurt.' Those who glorify war should learn a lesson from this poem. 10+++

Litteral and metaphorical memories of a past battle.

This sucks more than those Jews i killed

There is very little to add to the thorough and penetrating critique of this poem supplied by Terry Craddock below. Such meticulous and insightful analyses are rarely met with on these pages and I applaud his effort. The only addition I can offer is the important role of the title, Vergissmeinnicht, a German word meaning forget me not. I think it is key that this word has not been translated, but left in its original as found in the third stanza of the poem as part of a note between soldier and lover. As it appears in the poem it is pure reportage of the scene, we don't even know if the observer is aware of its English meaning. But it does telegraph the nationality of the dead figure, and thus the greater setting of the poem. Furthermore, used as a title it begs the reader to find a translation and meaning as it applies the whole work. And as it applies to the totality of the poem I think it's clear that the reference is to both the deceased soldier and the horror of war as well as the presumably innocent lover who has been forever detached from this object of her desire. A stunning, thought provoking work.

He's buried behind Normandy

i think this poem raise a lot of questions inside the reader, it let the reader in confusion and curiosity. According to my simple knowledge about this poem, i see that we can relate to it's theme 'war" . it evokes contradictory feelings inside everyone experience the lost and depression due to war.

Please stop the computer-simulated audio reading of poetry. It’s bad enough for captions but poetry? Really, it couldn’t be a worse idea.

For here the lover and killer are mingled who had one body and one heart. And death who had the soldier singled has done the lover mortal hurt. /// it's thought provoking stanza; here on this earth the Lover and the Killer are mingled partner in stealing the beautification of life! ! ! !

Nicely expressed thoughts and feelings. An insightful creation. Thanks for sharing and do remain enriched.