Randall Jarrell (1914-1965)

It’s one of the superficial oddities of English poetry that the First World War produced an enormous amount of poetry, some of which has entered the Canon, while the Second didn’t. It’s only a superficial oddity; culture and education had changed dramatically.

However, this short poem, by the American poet and critic, Randall Jarrell, is one of the most memorable poems written in the twentieth century about war. Part of the horror of the poem lies in the unemotional voice of the anonymous speaker. Apart from his position in the Ball Turret, he could be anyone.

The last line is difficult, not just because of the flat way it describes the aftermath of a young man’s death, but because of the way it’s written. It feels like it’s too long. Like the experience of hosing a body out of an aircraft.

As an example of an image being allowed to convey message, without the poet preaching, it’s very very good. If you want an anti-war poem, I’d choose this over something like Dulce Et Decorum est.

Incidentally, there’s several comments online about this poem ‘being about abortion’. It’s not. It’s about the death of a young man in the Ball Turret of a bomber.