http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/one-soldiers-story/Content?oid=1180646
In light of our presentation this week, I thought this was quite timely. Additionally, the article highlights poetry as a form, as well something that is just downright important. Read the piece and respond to it. What do you like about it, what did you learn from it and how does it change your understanding and appreciation of poetry?
This story is so sad and makes that four line poem seem like a beautiful piece of writing from an author studying for years, not a piece by a man tortured and held in solitary confinement for months.
ReplyDeleteI was astounded to learn about his homecoming because I have never though of a military homecoming in that way. I always think that the family is in charge of worrying whether or not the soldier will be coming home, but in this case the soldier had to worry about his family being there for him. I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it would be to come home to an unfaithful spouse and kids that showed no emotion.
This poem is beautiful because it has so much behind it. It brought me to a greater appreciation of poetry when I realized how much the author of the poem understands the words, despite how much the audience does. When reading poetry that is abstract in the littlest way, I often give up and think that it is weird instead of looking deeper into it. I think that poetry is equally about understanding the author as it is about understanding the poem.
I have recently seen a military homecoming video and sobbed like a big baby the entire way through it. It is so cute to see everyone coming home, and after taking the Medal of Honor class for a few weeks, I appreciate so much more of what goes on to these soldiers. Like I often start out when talking to Mr. Pearson, I do not completely understand because I have never been through it, but watching videos, reading articles, and talking to a man that has been through those times of war very recently is a blessing. I know that I cannot stop imprisonment of innocent soldiers, hate, and war completely in this world, but I know that if I learn about it, I will approach the topic in a better way.
Being burned by cigarettes, showering in a horse trough, and coming back home to family issues can not be expressed by writing a sentence, paragraph, or novel, but can somehow be captured into four lines of poetry that do not have to deal with any of these subjects directly. Poetry is amazing, especially when written about amazing stories.
I think the thing that frustrates me the most about reading other people's poetry is knowing that I will never truly understand what it is the author is trying to say - no matter how much I study it. I can always infer that the author is trying to say something, but I will never really know the sentiments and emotions behind their poetry. I will never fully relate to the experiences hidden behind their words. It is ironic because those are the very same reasons that writing poetry is so intriguing to me. I love being able to hide the outcries of my soul behind a pretty piece of art. But perhaps that is the point. Maybe we aren't supposed truly understand from where poetry comes. And maybe that fact is supposed to make us appreciate it even more.
DeleteGrace, I thought this was a wonderful blog. I agree that so many people view military homecomings as this great thing but many people do not realize what these people are going through. This blog gave me a new appreciation for this topic and I can better appreciate the military members that are returning. I love when I go out and public and see our military members dressed up. It makes me proud that we have these people out there protecting our country.
DeleteThis story, aside from the horrific nature of Lawrence's war experiences, sheds light on one outstanding individual who devoted an enormous portion of his life to our country. It brings about the familiar sense of respect that we often feel upon hearing the courageous stories of those who sacrificed so much for us. Upon hearing these accounts, I am always amazed by how strong one individual can be, especially when faced with such horrid circumstances.
ReplyDeleteBill Lawrence's story is one that highlights not only the immense personal sacrifice that drives our country, but also the more intimate details of a specific soldier's story. In a time of great torment, Lawrence turned to poetry as an escape. Poetry was literally the only that kept him from going mad. When considering this fact, it becomes more apparent that poetry is so much more than a "hobby." For some, it is all they have.
Poetry may be viewed as an escape for almost anyone. I always hear of poets who felt so ostracized from reality that they decided to create their own through poetry. However, I have never heard of someone who has turned to poetry as a sense of comfort - or even blissful distraction - as Lawrence did in this story. Poetry rushed through his veins. That much becomes apparent when considering the appreciation he showed for poetry even as a young boy. And so, when faced with despair, Lawrence felt that poetry was the only hand he had to hold onto.
Poetry is so much more than a mass of pretty words strewn together to create a pleasant experience. True poetry holds within it a deeper meaning. For Bill Lawrence, poetry signifies a time in his life when he was the strongest version of himself. No one will ever read his poetry and experience the same inward sentiments as he. But perhaps that is the point. Poetry is so much more than a complex entanglement of the written word. Poetry is personal.
Poetry always confused me. People would show me a poem and I would think "oh, that's nice" when in reality I never knew what it was about. This poem definitely shows the personal aspects behind poetry because even though I know that it is obviously about Tennessee, I would not have known the real story behind the objective matter in the poem if I had not read his background. Sometimes I think that I get what the poet is saying, but poetry is probably a lot prettier when I have no idea what it means.
DeletePoetry has always confused me in the way it is written. I love how you say that it is more than just pretty words sewn together. Poetry has a different meaning for every single person that reads it. Something that makes me smile can make someone else cry and vice versa. It is all about the kind of person who reads it and what they think of it. That is why I feel that poetry is so important. It allows us different insight.
DeleteI like your first sentence of the last paragraph when you state, "Poetry is so much more than a mass of pretty words strewn together to create a pleasant experience." Most of the time, whenever we read poetry, it usually does make us feel happy. But as this piece of poetry makes clear, not all poetry does make us Feel pleasant. But in these moments of reading this sad poetry, so much emotion is conveyed, that it is unreal.
DeleteMary, I really hated poetry. This poem gave me a new outlook, however. I liked that there is such a powerful message behind this short four line poem. Honestly, most poems I read I can't make sense of and they have too much "fluff" for my liking. I like stories that I can read and get right to the point of.
DeleteThis story is truly remarkable with the way Lawrence kept his good energy. It is amazing he could be around the most horrendous sights and have heinous crimes committed against him, yet he kept a positive attitude throughout all of it. It would be so easy to focus all of his energy on giving up or finding a way to end his life to escape it all, but he kept his thoughts in getting home to his lovely Tennessee. Something as simple as a state was all he needed to keep his mind on to keep fighting for his life, and I know I tend to take my home state for granted.
ReplyDeleteEveryone looks for something to take away their pain, and Lawrence found that through poetry. It seems like such a simple thing, but how often do we find everyday people in school or society trying to take their pain away through maliciously hurting others with their words and actions? Lawrence is a man truly full of strength.
The poem Lawrence wrote is so beautiful, which is ironic because the circumstances he wrote it in were the farthest from pretty. Poetry has the ability to make anything beautiful. There are so many times I read a sad poem yet I just marvel at his beautiful it is. Poetry shows the ability of words to conceal yet magnify feelings. Between the lines of Lawrence's poem is pain and struggle, but in the lines there is only beauty and hope for tomorrow.
I like how you pointed to Lawrence as a man of true strength, not only in the way he kept himself mentally strong, but also in that he chose to take away his pain with poetry rather than negativity. So many people today find themselves in an unsettling situation, whether it be through insecurity or injustice, and they choose to hurt others as a means of building themselves up. I think we can all admit to having acted on our despair in a way that hurt other people at some point in our lives, but we must realize that there are many more alternatives. Poetry is one of them. Lawrence is an excellent example of someone who refused to use negativity to find strength.
DeleteThe irony in the poem is definitely extreme. He creates something beautiful from his horrific life and hopefully continues to remain strong after the upset of his family situation upon return. I wonder if Lawrence thinks that his poem is beautiful when he looks at it, or if he sees the truth and ugliness behind it. It would be hard to look at a writing of your own as beautiful if you knew why you wrote it, but he is so strong that he could probably see the positive aspects of it.
DeleteI love how you said we all need something to take away our pain. We all need something to keep us going in a world of heartbreak and disappointment. He had his poetry and it gave him so much hope. It motivated him to keep fighting and waiting to see what the next day would bring him. Because who knew, it might bring him back to Tennessee.
DeleteYour first paragraph reminds me of a scene from Quantum of Solace where James Bond drops one of the bad guys off in the middle of the desert and gives him motor oil to drink when he decides to give up on life. Of course, this dude ends up drinking the motor oil. But I'm sure that if I was in a Vietnamese prison camp, and they gave me the option to drink some motor oil and end it all, I probably would, because I don't know that I would be able to endure it. But Lawerence presents tremendous courage and strength to be able to endure it. Poetry, as you point out, plays a huge role in his ability to survive and preserve his sanity.
DeleteThis story reminds me of Unbroken, because both men exhibited tremendous strength even though they were in horrible conditions. The thing I found most interesting about this story and many others that I have heard from POWs is where they drew their strength from. The men in the story tried to teach each other everything they knew, that way they would have something to think about instead of constantly thinking about what was going on around them. I also found it funny that they would have movie nights by telling each other about their favorite movies. In Unbroken, the main character draws his strength by thinking about his family and also remembering his running career. However, Lawrence thought of his poetry and tried to perfect and remember everything he came up with.
ReplyDeleteMany people think of poets as hippy people sitting in fields of flowers, contemplating life and writing about butterflies. However, many people don't realize that poets can be anyone writing about their experiences. This man, surrounded by filth and sustaining serious injuries in the midst of the Vietnam War, is a poet. Honestly, I was not really a big fan of poetry, it was too soft for me. I need something with more edge and substance than what the poetry I was exposed to could give. However, I really liked this type of poetry. It had a backstory and was able to give more meaning to the poem.
It is these types of stories that really make me appreciate our country. It is hard to really think about the meaning behind the flag or the National Anthem every time we come across it, but when I hear these stories, I have a new appreciation for our country. I love watching the programs on television on 9/11. The stories about these heroes and the service they performed for their country always gives me a new outlook and renewed feelings of patriotism. I think that Mr. Pearson gave a great speech on Constitution Day. It is nice to hear from someone who has experienced the real world and has such a passion for their country.
Abbey, I like how you pointed out that most people view poetry as frivolous and shallow. I think this happens because most people don't read much poetry with substance. As children, the poetry we read is silly and entertaining. As we grow up, we don't read much poetry anymore, turning instead to books. However, a simple poem can have as much depth as a novel, even though it's much shorter. People need to study the poetry they read so that they understand where it came from and why it was written. These two aspects of a poem can change how a person views it, just as we realized with Bill Lawrence's poem.
DeleteI have never really been a fan of poetry. The whole concept of someone saying something, but meaning something completely different and making it rhyme was not something that I was very fond of. That was until I read a poem online by a name and author that I can not remember and it touched me. It touched me because I did not read it as an over analyzed mess, but something that I could relate to. The same feeling was there when I read One Soldiers Story.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, we always see tragedy as being in some way beautiful. Maybe it is the happiness of knowing a person is no longer suffering or the words that echo from the mouths of those who cry. I do not know why it is seen as beauty, but it is. This poem was stunning because of the substance behind it. We can feel his pain and be put in his shoes while he sat and starved in the prison camp. We can see that he did what he did for his country. We can feel his emotions and that is why it is so pretty. It is a dark pretty, but in the reality, the most beautiful things always make us cry.
His hope gave me hope. His tears made me want to cry. To learn the story behind a tragedy makes you wonder how many others were out there and suffered the same way that he did? How many experienced his pain and did not make it home? We will never know, but we do know one of the many stories now and the poetry that touched us.
Jenna, I like how you mentioned that things that are dark can be pretty too. The night is almost always associated with beauty and mystery, and yet is also attributed with monsters and death. There is a certain kind of beauty in things that almost shouldn't have it, and it's hard to understand sometimes. This is the same kind of beauty that we can find in tragedy. I also like how you pointed out that the most beautiful things make people cry. It reminded me of a quote from Doctor Who, "'What's so good about sad?' 'Its happy for deep people.'"
DeleteJenna, I think the poem is beautiful because it shows that there can be light in the dark, and that ugliness can be disguised. It shows that there can be good in the bad if we choose to see it, and that even the smallest things people take for granted are what other people are hoping for most. This poem is a real example of hope and never giving up, but just looking at it without knowing the story, it is just a beautiful rhythm.
DeleteBill Lawrence is a man of great strength and character, which are exemplified by his attitude and actions in the face of extreme hardship. Lawrence's trials throughout the Vietnam War would have broken many people, but he found within himself a way to survive. In order to escape his torture, he turned to his mind. He needed a way to focus on something other than his situation, so he began to write poetry.
ReplyDeleteLawrence's poem was full of pride in his homeland. It focused on the beauty of the land and the bravery of its people. Upon reading the full poem, one would never have known it was written by a man being tortured. Instead one would think it was the result of a pleasant viewing of the countryside. This is significant because Lawrence's poem could have been dark and depressing. It would be more logical, given his situation. However, he chose to focus on something good in order to escape the terrible state of the life he was being forced to live. The good things that he focused on probably helped him survive. If he had given in to despair, he probably would have died in the POW camp.
Reading Lawrence's poem after hearing his story gave me a deeper appreciation for poetry. The varied subjects and forms of poetry all arise from a feeling the author is trying to convey, and there is always some aspect that we can never truly appreciate simply because we are not the author. This story also helped me understand that just because a poem is positive doesn't mean that the author was happy when he wrote it.
Lawrence's homecoming struck me as sad, but also as uncommon. I feel as though many people who came home from the Vietnam War had mixed homecomings. Society had turned against them, through no fault of their own, and their personal lives were also affected. It's sad to think about how many people experienced the same kind of homecoming as Lawrence due to events beyond their control.
I agree, Ashley, it would be easy to focus on the bad and make the poem something dark and depressing. Even in times not near as horrendous as those Lawrence faced it is important to focus on the good in the world. If he lost his hope for life he would have given up, but it is amazing something as simple as a few line of poetry allowe him to sustain his desire to live.
DeleteIt is quite depressing to hear about the homecoming he received upon his return. These days, a soldier returning from a tour of duty always receives a warm welcome from the entire community from which they hail. Heck, some towns have parades honoring returning veterans. But he, along with other veterans, received pretty much the exact opposite. Along with the American public, celebrities such as Jane Fonda basically labeled the veterans as traitors and decided to persecute them. No matter what one thinks of the government in power at the time, their frustrations should never be taken out on the soldiers.
ReplyDeleteAs for the poetry aspect of this blog, I really enjoyed his poem that he wrote while in solitary confinement. This slightly reminded me of Bobby Fischer playing chess in his head by himself while he was on the run from the USA government. Except there's added terror in Lawerence's case, as death could come for him at any moment. Poetry though would be a great way to keep one's sanity though, as the complexity of organizing the syllables and making sure everything sounds right together requires much thought. This may be able to help keep the mind from unraveling.
This article definitely made me appreciate the soldiers who fought in Vietnam (Well, not just the soldiers from Vietnam, all soldiers have my highest respect.) much more than I originally did. I don't know why I thought this, but I always kind of thought of the Vietnam war as almost a fantasy. It just seemed like a cool story that could be read out of a history book. But this is a very ignorant thought on my thought, and it is pretty much just dead wrong. I gained a greater respect for poetry by reading this also. I always thought of it as something trivial that high school students are forced to read/write. But based on what I just read, poetry also has the power to save people.
Hello, Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI’ll be in next Friday to visit and I’m really looking forward to a conversation with all of you. I’m impressed with the quality of the comments here, and honored that you took the time to read and react to “One Soldier’s Story.”
I’d like to jump in here. First, let me say I admired Bill Lawrence greatly. He was a man of courage, conviction and integrity. I’ve written about him several times. Obviously, I find his story compelling. But when we talk poetry, I’m going to stake out a contrarian position.
I’ll sneak up on this. I’m guessing you’re familiar with the Joyce Kilmer poem “Trees.” It is a very famous poem, one treasured by many people for its portrayal of the almost human qualities of nature and its celebration of our bond with it. So, I’ll never forget reading the poem and then the commentary in the book “Understanding Poetry,” by Brooks & Warren, which served as a text when I was in English class at ECCHS. Let me quote: ”This poem has neen very greatly admired by a large number of people. But it is a bad poem.”
Brooks & Warren go on to explain a fundamental problem—If you’re going to compare a tree to a human being, you should be consistent. In this case, the tree is both a sucking babe, its mouth against mother earth, and a praying woman, her arms upraised. As they say, “the tree is a strangely deformed human being.”
Now, to Bill Lawrence’s poem. First, I’m glad it exists. It got Capt. Lawrence, later Adm. Lawrence, through his time in that awful sweatbox in the Vietnamese jungle. It kept him sane and alive, and for that, I’m grateful. But “Oh Tennesseee, My Tennessee,” is a bad poem too. Like Kilmer’s, it sets out to do something simple—in this case, catalog some of the wonders of Tennessee. The trick is it does so rather clunkily. It is written in iambic tetrameter. Within any chosen meter, there can be variation, but in this case, it sometimes shifts to trochaic tetrameter (“Thriving cities and industries”) and in the case of “I revere your heroes,” abandons tetrameter for trimeter. Then, some lines just don’t flow very well. Read “Rolling Green Hills and Fertile Farm Land” aloud and see if you don’t agree. Then there’s the fact that he sets us up for quatrains, but gives us verses of six and two lines, before going back for a final quatrain. Finally, in too many cases he is vague, as in the second verse, where “bravely, renowned, wise, strong, well and long” all tell us rather than show us. Examples and action words make poetry and all literature come to life, and those are lacking here.
Again, his story and the story behind this poem are powerful and worthy of praise. Bill Lawrence is one of the people in this world I have most admired. I remember talking with former presidential candidate and current Senator John McCain, Adm. Lawrence’s fellow pilot and fellow prisoner, and the awe with which he spoke of his old friend. That doesn’t make the poem any better technically.
These comments are from the author of the piece. Please welcome Mr. Simbeck to the blog and feel free to respond to his comment.
DeleteSo, let’s move from that to a larger discussion question. Does a poem have to be good to be moving? Remember, song lyrics are poems set to music. Many popular songs are bad. But many of the bad ones are catchy and memorable and move people. They mark passages in people’s lives and mean the world to them. So, if a piece of art moves someone, if it means a great deal to him or her, can it still be called bad?
ReplyDeleteMy answer is yes. Yours may not be. Poetry has rules, just like building a house has rules. You may ignore those rules, but you do so at your peril. Sometimes breaking the rules works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, even when you follow the rules, the poem or house doesn’t turn out very well. That’s why there are critics. Some movies, albums, books and plays, are loved by some and hated by others. Both can have great reasons for their opinions.
Similar questions can come up about people. Some presidents have been known to have, shall we say, faulty moral compasses when it comes to their personal behavior. Is it possible to be a flawed person and a great president? A bad person and a good nurse? People’s contradictions, like the contradictions inherent in art, can make for great discussion.
You are forming the bases on which you will build judgment and critical discrimination for the rest of your life. You may like or dislike your parents’ favorite songs, or your friends’. You may like or dislike their favorite politicians. I guarantee you’ll have at least some trouble with many of your kids’ favorite songs and shows and their favorite role models. But, at bottom, what is the basis of your judgment? Is it technical? Is it philosophical? Or is the proof of the pudding in the tasting? If it stirs an emotion, is it good? If a president keeps the economy moving, should we overlook his peccadillos?
Looking forward to your thoughts and to talking with you in a week.
Rob Simbeck