sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth
DESCRIPTION
What do these images tell us about the poem?TRANSCRIPT
Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth.
Were they inclined to quiet laughter?
Did the people of Viet NamUse lanterns of stone?
Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.It is not remembered whether in gardensStone lanterns illumined pleasant ways.
Did they use bone and ivory,Jade and silver, for ornament?
It is not remembered. Remember,Most were peasants; their lifeWas in rice and bamboo.When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddiesAnd the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,Maybe fathers told their sons old tales.When bombs smashed those mirrorsThere was time only to scream.
Did they hold ceremoniesTo reverence the opening of buds?
There is an echo yetof their speech which was like a song.It is reported that their singing resembledThe flight of moths in the moonlight.Who can say? It is silent now.
Did they distinguish between speech and singing?
Had they an epic poem?
Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,But after the children were killedThere were no more buds.
A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.All the bones were charred.
9 Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth.
3 Were they inclined to quiet laughter?
1 Did the people of Viet NamUse lanterns of stone?
7Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.It is not remembered whether in gardensStone lanterns illumined pleasant ways.
4 Did they use bone and ivory,Jade and silver, for ornament?
11
It is not remembered. Remember,Most were peasants; their lifeWas in rice and bamboo.When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddiesAnd the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,Maybe fathers told their sons old tales.When bombs smashed those mirrorsThere was time only to scream.
2 Did they hold ceremoniesTo reverence the opening of buds?
12
There is an echo yetof their speech which was like a song.It is reported that their singing resembledThe flight of moths in the moonlight.Who can say? It is silent now.
6 Did they distinguish between speech and singing?
5 Had they an epic poem?
8Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,But after the children were killedThere were no more buds.
10 A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.All the bones were charred.
What do these images tell us about the poem?
Objectives
By the end of today’s lesson you will be able to:
•Understand the background to What Were They Like?
•Understand the issues that What Were They Like? explores
What Were They Like?Denise Levertov
Culture•Vietnam:
– South East Asian country ravaged by war in the 1960’s and 70’s with America•Poor, predominately agriculture based economy
•America:•Rich, powerful Western nation•Thought of as peace-keepers in world politics by intervening where they feel it is appropriate
Surface Meaning
•A question and answer session about the impact of the Vietnam War on the people of Vietnam
What were they like?
1. Did the people of Vietnamuse lanterns of stone?
2. Did they hold ceremoniesto reverence the opening of buds?
3. Were they inclined to quiet laughter? 4. Did they use bone and ivory,
jade and silver, for ornament? 5. Had they an epic poem? 6. Did they distinguish between speech and singing?
Each question is numbered and has a numbered answer
Reverence means celebrate
Pseudo journalistic style;
cold like the reportage of the
war itself
Dealing with the facts of
Vietnamese life
1. Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.
It is not remembered whether in gardens the lanterns illumined pleasant ways. 2.Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,but after the children were killed, there were no more buds. 3. Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth. 4. A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.
All the bones were charred. 5. It is not remembered. Remember,
most were peasants; their lifewas in rice and bamboo.When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddiesAnd the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces, maybe fathers told their sons old tales.When bombs smashed those mirrorsthere was time only to scream.
6.There is an echo yetOf their speech which was like a song. It was reported their singing resembledthe flight of moths in moonlight.Who can say? It is silent now.
Denise Levertov
Polite, careful
impersonal language
The poet turns each positive to a negative
Alliteration to show
seething anger
Evocative description of lifestyle and culture
Rice fields
The horror of war
What mirrors?
A sad desolate ending
Short sentences for strong
impact
Repetition of this shows a cold clinical
attitude
Recollected beauty shows anguish, not anger
Structure• 2 stanzas
– 1st stanza = questions– 2nd stanza = answers
• Can be read normally from line 1 to the end or by following the numbers to link each questions with its relevant answer
• Sounds like conversation between everyday person (American) and a polite anti-war protestor (“Sir …”)
Imagery•Simile:
–“their speech which was like a song”
–“their singing resembled the flight of moths in moonlight”
•Metaphor:–“their light hearts turned to stone”
• Ideas:– Everything has changed for the Vietnamese
people after the war (beauty and peace turned to sadness, grief and destruction)
• Attitudes:– The peaceful simple lives of the Vietnamese
people was shattered by the horror of war that the Americans brought with them
– Anti-war, pro peace– Anti-American (despite poet being American)
• Feelings:– No direct anger or recrimination towards
Americans, but sense of sorrow and loss due to the horror of war and its impact
– Sadness– Loss– “Matter of fact” style– Contempt for war
Before the War After the War
Write•A diary account before and after
•Newspaper reports before and after
•Prose work on before and after