To the Poet Before Battle- Kayla Beebout

To the Poet Before Battle

By Ivor Gurney

 

Now, youth, the hour of thy dread passion comes;                                 

Thy lovely things must all be laid away;                                                         

And thou, as others, must face the riven day                                                             

Unstirred by the rattle of the rolling drums,                                                

Or bugles’ strident cry.  When mere noise numbs                                    

The sense of being, the sick soul doth sway,                                                              

Remember thy great craft’s honour, that they may say                         

Nothing in the shame of poets.  Then the crumbs                                    

Of praise the little versemen joyed to take                                                 

Shall be forgotten; then they must know that we are,                           

For all our skill in words, equal in might                                                         

And strong of mettle as those we honoured; make                                

The name of poet terrible in just war,                                                           

And like a crown of honour upon the fight. 

--Gurney, Ivor. "To the Poet Before Battle." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.                                                                          

 

This is a Petrarchan sonnet, divided into an octave and a sestet with the rhyme scheme a b b a a b b a, c d e c d e.  However, Gurney does not adhere to iambic pentameter, as is customary for a sonnet.  Lines 7 and 10 are in iambic hexameter; these are the two lines that explicitly refer to “they,” meaning the detractors of poets, or fellow soldiers.  Lines 3, 4, 12, 13, and 14 all include an anapestic foot (actually, Line 4 has two), which disturb the usual harmony and regularity of a sonnet.  This disturbance shows the discordance of war in the poet’s personality, which is usually contemplative and artistic, even if emotionally turbulent.  Line 8 is in trochaic pentameter, with an added masculine ending, which brings attention to the volta.  In this poem, the volta is earlier than usual, since traditional Petrarchan sonnets have their volta in the sestet following the octave.  The early volta and the trochaic structure of the line add emphasis, emphasizing his plea that poets act in a way that brings no dishonor to them. 

     I chose this sonnet because it resonated with me as a writer and a poet.  I know how hard it would be to face battle for me, and for many others like me.  I also know the stereotypes of poets as being weak and overly emotional.  Gurney knew all of these things, having served himself in World War I.  Although I hate war, I think that Gurney’s sentiment is honorable: that sometimes we have to do what we have to do, so we should try to do things against our nature with honor.  By going against the nature of the sonnet, he practices what he preaches and makes his point even clearer.