Complete the template provided below (Annex A), focusing on (1) Point of View; (2) Situation and Setting; (3) Language/Diction; and (4) Personal Response, and post your response to Task 2 on your blog. This template is based on John Lye’s ‘Critical Analysis of Poetry’, and you can make reference to this in Annex B when in doubt.
Point of View:
The personna of the poem is a soldier of Vietnam fighting during the Vietnam War. He is most probably a victim of the gas attacks, and witnessed the entire episode of the war. He only felt the effects of the toxic gases much later in life after the war when he becomes immbolised. The chaos and the burtality of war affected him psychologically. However, he had first-hand experiecnce, hence we can conclude that everything he describes about the Vietnam War would be true. However, there the personna may be exaggerated in some cases when he becomes too emotional. One good example is when he says "Nefariously America led astray - Generations untold WILL pay - Execrable effects of agent orange spray!" In this case, he is generalising and making an assumption that everybody in the country has become a devil due to war. This is untrue as there are many war heroes as well.
Situation and Setting:
The setting of the poem is during the Vietnam War, where the situation was chaotic and turmoil. This poem is written to remind people the consequences of war and to convince them not to start another war. The title "Rainbow Death" suggest that there was a variety of coloured gases used during the war, and the people who came into contact with such gases died horribly. The personna also emphasizes the dire consequences by capitalising WILL to show that future generations would have to pay for the consequences of the war.
Language and Diction:
"potpourri" means a mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance. There is an irony in the poem as potpourri is compared to the death fragrance of the Agents(coloured chemical gases) which can kill people.
"deceit" means the act or practice of deceiving or concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading. The personna is warning his readers that the government is deceiving them and mislead them when countries go to war to conceal their true purpose, which is negative. By covering up the truth, the people would not know the real war situation and be convinced to help the country when it is going to war.
"toll' means the extent of loss, damage, suffering resulting from some action. However, the "toll" in this poem actually means that the innocent and the unborn have to pay the price of countries going to war, often because of political conflicts which could have been resolved peacefully.
I feel that the poet is trying to put across his message to the readers that many innocent lives have been taken away by war and the severity of the consequences of war. Hence, he is promoting peace and trying to prevent another war from taking place again.
Personal Response:
Most of the time, wars can be prevented if countries are willing to resolve conflicts peacefully. However, many countries are unable to see the importance of peaceful resolvence and have a probability to use violence instead. These people do not bother about the citizen's feelings or the consequences. They are rash, irresponsible and irrational. In some cases where war does not solve the problem, the innocent people are suffering in vain. Instead, it is the innocent people like civilians and soldiers who are not even involved in the conflict that have to go to war and suffer the consequences of war. These innocent and helpless people have become the slaves of the devils who do not appreciate peace and stability. Hubert Wilson wrote this poem to remind everyone in the world that peace is precious and the world should always preserve peace to protect the innocent and the helpless people from suffering the horrible consequences of war.
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