26-1-1939 Comments

I just could not disagree more, Stephen W.... This poem is extremely coherent and comes from a time and generation who lived their lives within a completely different mindset than we. And in my opinion they were indeed the greatest generation, to borrow a phrase from Tom Brokaw. Muriel saw two major wars in her lifetime. Both of them involved Barcelona. Though the poem is about war, I think it is more specifically about the second world war, which should have been avoided by prophecy, which is the true sense and incredible insight that Muriel places on it. Empathy will bring these lines alive for you. Pick any line and put yourself in that generation's shoes and you will understand them. For example, decisions of history the radios reversed. Germany was under the strictest sanctions after WW1. They were forbidden to build military strength or create any scenario where they could bring another war about. Radios were the main force of public information back then, and she is talking about the brilliant propaganda that Hitler and Goebels employed over the radio and movie houses to literally reverse the decisions of the treaty of Versailles, at least in the minds of the German people who were the only ones that mattered to the regime. With the support at home they were able to thumb their noses at the rest of the world. That is such an incredibly deep set of thoughts squeezed into six words. And every line in this poem is like that. It is absolutely genius.

Emotive, but ungrammatical & semi-coherent.

War brings great grief and hope of bright future after war poet sees from the faces of people after the fall of Barcelona in war!