Reservist
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In order to analyse Reservist by Boey Kim Cheng, its necessary to consider the significance of the title, the sense, the intention of the poem, the feeling, the figurative language, the tone used, and the theme. All these components will help to give a better overall understanding of the poem.
The sense of the poem appears to be war, and this is mostly seen through certain phrases which are affiliated with war (“report for service”; “We will keep charging”; “long years of braving the same horrors”). “As clarion notes” is a very direct indication of war as a clarion is a war trumpet. For the most part though, the sense of war only becomes apparent once the lines are analysed individually.
The intention of the poem seems quite obvious. The poem itself has lines which feel monotonous (“We will keep charging up the same hills, plod through the same forests”) which indicates that the poet intended to point out the monotony of war. The repetition of “same” (lines 14, 15 and 30) and “again” (line 11 and 17) supports this. The poet intended to show the repetitive nature of war.
The poem creates a feeling of dread, monotony and age, which come through in the tone. The dread comes through clearly towards the end of stanza two in lines 30 and 31 (“We will march the same paths until they break onto new trails, our lives stumbling”). Those same lines indicate the monotony of the lives of the soldiers, as well as how tiresome it is. Finally, the age of the soldiers is seen in the first stanza, where the poet describes their “creaking bones”, their “rusty armour” and their “pot bellies”. These soldiers dont sound fit to fight, and the reference to “rusty armour” indicates that they have been doing this for some time- another reference to the repetitiveness and monotony of war.
A figure of speech used in stanza two links closely to the feeling and intention of the poem. Lines 21 to 22 contain the quote “masked threats and monsters armed with the same roar” which has alliteration of the letter “m”. This is again a reference to the monotony of the situation, strengthening the intention of the poet to depict war in that way.
The theme of the poem is undoubtedly war, and how pointless and monotonous it is. War is interpreted through the use of certain words, such as “joust”, “command”, “battle-weary”, and “weapons”. Monotony is shown through the alliteration of “m” and repetition of “same” and “again”, as previously mentioned. The monotony of the poem implies how pointless war is as it doesnt create much change, and so there is no real gain from war.
The significance of the title Reservist (meaning soldier) ties