281. The Death of a Soldier

Wallace Stevens

Pg. 334

 

Analysis:

“The Death of a Soldier” is expectedly very down to earth and honest in the way that a fallen soldier’s life can end in the large picture of things, not mean a whole lot. The opening stanza, “Life contracts and death is expected, as in a season of autumn. The soldier falls,” goes along in the belief that soldiers are expected to and will give up their lives for whatever they may be fighting for. Stevens compares this thought with the autumn season. This season is unlike any of the others because it is the end of the time that most people enjoy, the warm weather and fully grown trees, etc. Autumn is plant life dies as all the leaves fall to the ground and the bitterly windy and cold weather is rushed in. The loss of life during war and troublesome times can be compared with the loss of mother nature during the autumn season. Also using a soldier’s death as simple in comparison to the falling of leaves shows how expected and it’s so normally thought of. 

            “He does not become a three-days personage, imposing his separation, calling for pomp.” This strictly alludes to the resurrection of Christ after three days. Christians during Easter, use this time to celebrate and rejoice. A fallen soldier has someone who isn’t looking or won’t receive the celebration or fame from society. A soldier isn’t someone who is looking to single himself out from the rest of the army. Stevens writes this to show how simplistic the death of a solider is when compared equally to the season of autumn. 

            In the last two stanzas, Stevens uses imagery to paint a clear picture letting you think of a windless sky with all the clouds moving in one direction. And like a soldiers death won’t make any large impact, neither does the wind stopping in the middle of autumn when the clouds will continue to move without trouble. Death is absolute just like the changing of seasons.

Reflection:

            Stevens is making quite a big statement in the poem. I can see his argument on behalf of the Unknown Soldier. Is it too much for all of us to expect some sort of recognition of our lives when we die? After analyzing the meaning of the death of this soldier, I continuously thought of the little recognition we give to our soldiers who have given their lives in this current war. Yes, we celebrate Veterans Day, and yes, many do pray for the families who have lost loved ones. But we watch the television everyday on the side lines to this war today, and rarely to never are the lives that were given up for our country praised. The media doesn’t report the news, it reports gossip. Who cares how many times Lindsey Lohan has been in rehab or how many mistresses Tiger Woods had? Wallace Stevens’s poem reminds of my disappointment in this country’s moral compass.