Ivor Gurney - The Bohemians

Certain people would not clean their buttons,

Nor polish buckles after latest fashions,

Preferred their hair long, putties comfortable,

Barely escaping hanging, indeed hardly able;

In Bridge and smoking without army cautions

Spending hours that sped like evil for quickness,

(While others burnished brasses, earned promotions)

These were those ones who jested in the trench,

While others argued of army ways, and wrenched

What little soul they had still further from shape,

And died off one by one, or became officers,

Without the first of dream, the ghost of notions

Of ever becoming soldiers, or smart and neat,

Surprised as ever to find the army capable

Of sounding 'Lights out' to break a game of Bridge,

As to fear candles would set a barn alight:

In Artois or Picardy they lie - free of useless fashions.

Key words

•      Bohemians – people who do not wish to conform to society’s norms. Usually dress unusually and have quite radical ideals. Often do not have conventional jobs, but instead are artists or writers.

What is the poem about?

The speaker talks about people, bohemians, who don’t want to conform to what society considers to be normal. However, the war erodes all these differences as they are dragged in and forced to experience the same things.

Structure

·        The poem is made up of only 2 sentences – sentence one is 16 lines long, whilst sentence 2 is only 1 line long.

·        Sentence 1 describes the bohemian men and what they did and didn’t do – perhaps it is so long to emphasise how they break rules and conventions.

·        The last sentence shows how they have become “free of useless fashions” just as they have always wanted – but they are also dead, just like everyone else. Ultimately, they have become the same.

·        The poem also has a very strange rhyme scheme – words almost rhyme (buttons/fashions/cautions) – this is half-rhyme – and could again reflect the way the men try not to conform to normal things. There are some rhymes however, suggesting that the men had to conform in the end.

Language

The speaker seems not to like the bohemians: “Certain people” sounds quite disapproving of them, whilst it is suggested that they are not particularly Godly: “what little soul they had” – perhaps also a reflection of the loss of faith men experience in war. The bohemians do many things “wrong” in the war – they don’t keep themselves looking neat and tidy, they narrowly avoid “hanging” for what they do, they prefer to play cards than talk about the war. However, they still “died off one by one” like any other soldier – or, ironically, become “officers” – they’re alive so they’re good enough to become officers! You could also see this as them being forced to conform.

In summary

•      Deals with the fates of non-conformist members of society who were also forced into the war

•      Irregular rhyme scheme and lengthy sentence

•      Ultimately suggests that conforming is soul-destroying and you will end up dead either way.

Ivor Gurney - The Target

I shot him, and it had to be

One of us "Twas him or me.

'Couldn’t be helped' and none can blame 

Me, for you would do the same.

My mother, she can’t sleep for fear

Of what might be a-happening here

To me. Perhaps it might be best

To die, and set her fears at rest.

For worst is worst, and worry's done. 

Perhaps he was the only son. . .

Yet God keeps still, and does not say

A word of guidance anyway.

Well, if they get me, first I'll find

That boy, and tell him all my mind,

And see who felt the bullet worst,

And ask his pardon, if I durst.

All's a tangle. Here's my job.

A man might rave, or shout, or sob;

And God He takes no sort of heed.

This is a bloody mess indeed.

What is the poem about?

This is a monologue (a speech given directly to the audience) from the point of view of a soldier. He details how he has killed another man and his thoughts on it. The poem shows us the effect of the war on the ordinary man, as well as questioning the idea of religion and God’s role in this war.

Structure

•      A very simple aabb rhyme scheme (rhyming couplets) – we are being spoken to by an ordinary man – the language in some ways reflects this as well.

•      Look at the uses of enjambments and caesuras. Why does the poet use these? What effect do they create? – it is like an ordinary person is speaking to us, like in “Lamentations” – an ordinary soldier would not be tied by line lengths if he was explaining something to us.

Language

The language is very simplistic, even using some colloquial language and slang: “’Twas”, “a-happening”, “durst”. This reflects the ordinary man telling his story. The implication is that war makes men into killers: “I shot him, and it had to be” – he had no other option but to do that, it was kill or be killed. The speaker almost challenges us to argue with him: “none can blame/Me, for you would do the same.”

The speaker displays a sense of sympathy for the man he killed: “Perhaps he was the only son...” with the ellipsis (...) suggesting he is thinking.

There is a sense of being abandoned by God: “Yet God keeps still, and does not say/A word of guidance any way.”

The effect of the war on the men is shown when the speaker says “And see who felt the bullet first” – there is a sense that death in this poem is by no means the worst effect of war – it’s the killing and the waiting which is the worst – and for those at home (“Perhaps it might be best/To die, and set her fears at rest.”)

The confusion and inescapable nature of the war is expressed through “All’s tangle” – the speaker is trapped in something he can’t control and just has to get on with his “job”.

The final line could be interpreted in a variety of ways: “This is a bloody mess indeed.” – a comment on the war with language appropriate for an ordinary man – or literally referring to the “bloody”ness of the war.

In summary

•      1^st person narrator – an ordinary soldier explaining why he killed a German and how he now feels about it

•      Looks at a common war poetry theme – that death would be preferable to carrying on in the war.

•      A sense of God having abandoned them