Soldier, Soldier by Gwen Harwood AnalysisSummary Sheet

Title:

Soldier, Soldier by Timothy Kline an angry young man who is against our
involvement in the Vietnam War

Subject

The subject is a conversation occurring between a soldier about to be

Matter:

deployed and his girlfriend. It was written in the year 1968, the start of
foreign involvement in the Vietnam War. It questions our involvement in
the war. It could be deemed a protest poem.

Analysis:

Key Quotes

Techniques and Impact on Reader

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me It was uncommon for a women to ask
with your rifle in your hand?

the man to marry her, although in

times of war, these traditions were
ignored, particularly as the soldier may
not return. It does catch the readers
attention.
A wedding being a time of joy and
sharing of lives, the rifle already
foreshadows the possible death of the
man, the brutality of war and even a
sense of it being a shot-gun wedding
can be felt.

No, my dear, I must fight the

He turns her down, however, making us

enemy far off in a foreign land.

realise that he understands his fate.

Focus on must and foreign.
These first lines establish the pattern
of the dialogue.

for our countrys not at war.

Questioning our involvement in the war.

It was our ties with the US which we
chose to honour.

if the killing makes you sick you

Looking at the idea that they would be

must fight against your will.

drawing in all types in society, not

those who believe in the honour and
glory of fighting in the war, the
patriotic feeling and the love of killing,

but the types who will be horrified,

disgusted and perhaps even incapable
of shooting others. Further use of
fighting yourself as well as the
enemy.

will you love me now?

With the uncertainty of contraception

in those days, he is unwilling to bring
into the world a child who will grow up
in a world of war.

in anguish while you sleep

An image of effects of death on the

unchilded women cry

families, particularly mothers of

soldiers and civilians on both sides.

on their cold and bloody bed

It is I who lie unmanned.

Another image
This is definitely alluding to the fact
that he will not return the same. He
could be lucky enough to return but he
will be changed - could be physically,
but will definitely be mentally.

Themes:

The questions seem quite innocent as they are asked but the answers are

Harwoods

quite pointed in content and can be consider quietly subversive.

message:
philosophy,
moral, premise,

This encourages the audience to consider their own opinions on how the
war is being run/organised by Australia and why we are even involved.

motif, argument It raises the issues of

or insight. What
does Harwood Why Australia is involved in the war decision men in power made
Conscription practices
teach us?
Dropping bombs indiscriminate killing guilty and innocent
It is the women and children who suffer, even more?
The horror of the killing
Distinctive
Qualities /
Textual
Integrity of
Poem: What
aspect/s leaves
a lasting

The poem is written as 10 stanzas of quatrains, following the pattern of:

The first two lines use enjambment to allow the question by the woman

to be asked.
The next two lines are indented to show the change in voice.
They allow the man to answer and also uses enjambment to develop a
suitably detailed and pointed answer.

impression on

There is flow without interruption for both the question and the answer,

the responder? making it seem like speech, not the abbreviated form we often feel in
What is the
most notable
aspect of this
poem? How is
this poem
reflective of
Harwoods
poetry in
general?

poetry.
This sense of dialogue also allows enough words to establish a rhyming
pattern which can be maintained throughout the whole poem. Based, for
the most part, on the ABAB style, the poem does also have a repetition of
the rhyme seen in earlier stanzas ABAB, CDCD, AEAE, FGFG, HIHI,
JKJK, CLCL, MNMN, OPOP, QBQB. These are known as rhyming quatrains.
Initially, the tone of the woman is a young voice and terribly nave. He uses
No, my dear, regularly throughout the poem. Could be considered
patronising or educating as he clears up her misconception, Could be
considered loving but probably not as much, He definitely seems older
and wiser. But that changes as the questions get more pointed, echoing the
subversive feel of the answers earlier. The use of the imagery through
selected vocabulary (minimal) contributes to the negativity at the end and
the sense that they are protesting the effects on the men who go to fight
in Vietnam.
Perhaps better known for her sonnets, Harwood writes in a variety of
structures, of which this use of quatrains is reasonably common
throughout this collection. It is neither the shortest not the longest.
The question and answer style is not common.

Critics

I could not find any reference to the poem on the Internet, except on a

Commentary:

website which I could not access.

What have
others said
about this
poem: style and
content?
Links to other

Gwen does have other poems which criticise the role of women, the

poems?

church, violence etc. In particular, In The Park, and Home of Mercy can be
seen as a criticism of society.