Naming of the Parts Analysis 4/20

I. NAMING OF PARTS

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
          And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
          Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
          Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
          They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
          For to-day we have naming of parts.

The Naming of Parts is a poem about soldiers learning how to use a gun amongst the spring time. This is a poem I had to read 6 times over to really understand what was happening because I could tell and was confused about this poem talking about two separate things: guns and spring, simultaneously. In the first four lines of this poem it talks about cleaning, firing, and naming parts of the gun; however, at the end of the sestet, it goes on about flowers and gardens to talk about how during spring that have to sit around learning parts of a gun. This poem uses the device juxtaposition, setting two opposite things side by side to convey meaning, by how the speaker talks about war and spring to convey the argument of war being foolish.

One aspect of the poem that was done on purpose was prattling on laboriously about the different parts of the gun to create a bored tone replicating how one would fell when learning about useless information. By creating this bored tone it takes the importance of war and flushes it away, making war seem useless. Another fact is that war is conflict issued with violence, and it is placed beside the most peaceful time of the year, creating said juxtaposition, making war seem silly when it is set in such a peaceful time period such as spring. This juxtaposition is even more apparent in the play on the phrase 'easing the spring' by how the speaker uses it to describe the function of the gun and the coming of spring. This poem is criticizing war by pointing out how war can somehow exist during a peaceful time and raises the theme that war is nonsensical.