By Andrew Nelson and Ben Trube
As a child when we realize,
that the world could be conquered
Simply to the count
of one, two, three...acquired.
It, in an hour of meditation
which everyone finds during the day,
the thought of weakness siege
and mentally waylay.
Death reprises her unholy mark
by way of man's hornet-sting
born to die and born to kill
two halves of one whole.
I languish in contempt for the dead
Solemnly resting in their shallow graves.
I've lost all right to life
let alone to endure its crushing, painful waves.
And from my passing grows,
a world less fraught with strife;
denied the unbearable pain of war.
While creating this poem, we aimed to replicate several of the common qualities of Randall Jarrell's poems. These include occasional end rhyme, as can be seen in the second and second to last stanzas, and the use of hyphenated modifiers. Others include the frequent use of appositive phrases, also seen in the poem. Counting, as is used in "Eighth Air Force," has been utilized, and the idea of a child realizing the truth about life and the world - in that it's not all it's cracked up to be - can also be seen. In terms of structure, Jarrell often puts powerful adjectives in front of his nouns, adding more detail. These adjectives are generally very strong, helping to paint the overall picture that he is trying to get across to the reader. Perhaps the most important parts of Jarrell's style that are exemplified here are his use of negatively charged diction and the topics of death and war. The diction is displayed throughout, including "languish," "strife," and "contempt." As well, the heavy overtones of death and war are shown in the diction, as well as the overall "gist" of this poem. This can be seen in the use of "siege" and "conquered," and the phrase "born to die and born to kill..."
