Compare Anthem for Doomed Youth and No more Hiroshimas explore how the poets use language to show the effects of war.
Compare Anthem for Doomed Youth and No more Hiroshimas explore
how the poets use language to show the effects of war.
The poets present the effect of war in similar and different ways both indicating that the damage and loss is irreplaceable.
In “no more Hiroshimas”, the poet describes the Japanese town as “drab, cheerfully shallow permanence: peeling concrete, litter, ‘Atomic Lotion, for hair fall-out”. This shows the damage nuclear weapons have done to this town. “flimsy department store, flashy waves”, “Oranges and dark red apples” “squid and octopus, shellfish, oyster, ice”, the poet uses some very vibrant colour to describe this little town and just how normal it looks. However there seems to be a mask that’s covering everything up and it is all existing on the surface; nothing really has any depth in it. The pace slows down by using more commas in the next stanza as it talks about the river which is the only natural created thing in this whole town. It is “unchanged, sad, refusing rehabilitation” This shows that it is polluted and will never be able to change. In the third stanza, the poet is back into the city centre, here, there are all sort of new technologies going on such as “cinemas and hi-fi coffee bars”. And the memorial hall is “tricked with glitter frost and artificial pearls.” This shows that the people are making money out of the tragedy. It is a mockery and it is also deriding what had happened. Everything is fake. The fourth stanza is about is artificial and uncomfortable hotel the poet is living in. It is in an awful “emptiness”. This shows the fact that how vacant the place seems to be. It is “trimmed”, “with jaded Christmas frippery, flatulent balloons”, the alliteration of the “f” suggests that the balloon is losing air and all these decorations are pointless. The stairs “treacherous” and his room “overheated morgue”, the electric chimes ring across the “tidy waste”. This shows that he is uncomfortable there and he also uses the oxymoron to show this piece of pointless and useless land. The “doleful hymn” and the unrecognisable tune suggest that nothing there is cheering him up and no one want to be there at Christmas. In the next stanza the poet uses the ironic term “ Atomic peace”, this is an oxymoron. It is “geared” to “meet the tourist trade”. The poet here is mocking and summing up the situation. He is in fact beyond indignation because he thinks that this tragic place should not be built like a tourist area. The state of this town is so tacky. It is without “nobility or loveliness”, and “dogged with shame”. This suggests that the way they geared up to meet the tourist trade is shameful. In the last two stanzas, the poet is being serious and describes what he sees in the museum: “burnt clothing, torn shirts, polka-dotted with atomic rain, blasted boy to bleed and slowly die” and so on. These are all the damages that have been done of the people, the words used are all very violent and this makes them stand out from the poem. The power of this poem is generated through the poet’s journey through the town which is empty and tragic which alternatively focus on the human element of disaster. The overall message is to highlight the need to learn from this kind of tragedy so it is never repeated again.
