Gillian Clarke

By Alejandra & Yolanda

For the green turtle with her pulsing burden, in search of the breeding-ground.

For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.

For the cormorant in his funeral silk, the veil of iridescence on the sand,

the shadow on the sea.

For the ocean's lap with its mortal stain. For Ahmed at the closed border.

For the soldier in his uniform of fire.

For the gunsmith and the armourer, the boy fusilier who joined for the company,

the farmer's sons, in it for the music.

For the hook-beaked turtles, the dugong and the dolphin,

the whale struck dumb by the missile's thunder.

For the tern, the gull and the restless wader, the long migrations and the slow dying,

the veiled sun and the stink of anger.

For the burnt earth and the sun put out, the scalded ocean and the blazing well.

For vengeance, and the ashes of language.

Background Information

• Gillian Clarke was born in Cardiff, Wales (1937)

• Poet, playwright, editor, and translator (from Welsh)

• The poem is about the Gulf War(1991),when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the United States, with Britain’s help, bombed Iraq. This war has never really stopped.

Stanza 1

• “pulsing burden” – The “burden” is the heavy load (eggs) that the turtle has to carry. But when it says is “pulsing” it gives the image that she is desperate to lay her eggs that is causing her trouble.

• “nest of sickness”- Metaphor. A “nest” should be secure & warm, but the the word “sickness” is mentioned, so it gives the idea that war has reached so far that there isn’t a single place safe.

Stanza 2

• “funeral silk” - The author refers the oil that is covering the “cormorant” as “silk”. But when “funeral” is mentioned it is saying that this “silk” is going to cause the death of the bird.

• “The veil of iridescence on the sand” and “the shadow on the sea” show the spreading stain of oil from bombed oil wells and also shows the image of war is poisoning everywhere.

Stanza 3

• “mortal stain” - The war is described as a “stain” that blemishes everyone’s heart and causes death to all the living things and our surroundings.

• Clarke moves from the environmental cost of the war to the human cost. “Ahmed” was a soldier burnt when his tank was bombed (“his uniform of fire”).This creates an impacting image of how the war caused so much pain to everyone.

Stanza 4

• Use of the semantic field of jobs related to war: “gunsmith”, “armourer”, “fusilier”, “company”

• The “boy fusilier who joined for the company,” and “the farmer’s sons, in it for the music”, came from hearing radio interviews. This once more shows how the war spoiled the innocence of children.

Stanza 5

• Here, different animals are listed “hooked-beaked turtles”, “dugong”, “dolphin” and “whale”. The authors mentions these animals because they’ll problably end up dead.

• The sound of the missile is described as the roar of the “thunder”. Which shows a powerful image of war.

Stanza 6

• “veiled sun” – the verb ‘veil’ is used again to mention how the sun and light is hidden away and only the “stink of anger” is left, filling the atmosphere with disgust.

• Different types of seabirds (“tern”, “gull” and “wader”) are mentioned showing that after the long journey, they´re going to die.

Last Verse

• “The ashes of Language”

With this last verse the poet is trying to transmit the idea that during war all the truth is dead as well as all the lives of many innocent people and creatures.

Stanza 7

• Use of different adjectives to describe what has happened to nature : “burnt earth”, “scalded ocean” and “blazing well”. With this adjectives the poet emphasizes the feeling of heat and fire.

• When it says that the “sun put out” it means that there is no longer peace or happiness on Earth.

Structure

• This poem is structured as a list of lamented people, events, creatures and other things hurt in the war so after the word ‘lament’, every verse, and 11 lines, begin with ‘for’.

• The poem doesn’t have a particular rhyme scheme.

• There are 7 Stanzas each of 3 verses (Tercets)

The Poem

Lament

• Ms.Clarke's elegy reveals in minute detail the comprehensive and catastrophic ill effects of the Gulf War. The Gulf War devastates not only the ecology but also the lives of so many people who die in the most gruesome manner for no reason of their own. But the sad truth which the "Lament" highlights is the fact that although it deals in particular with the Gulf War, war as a universal phenomenon has and is and will continue to be the brutal means by which mankind will settle its problems.

Now it’s your turn!

• Which of these Quotes belong to ‘Lament’?

1.

• “For the cormorant in his funeral place”

• “For the sword outwears its health”

• “A spiders web, tense for dew’s touch”

• 2.

a. “The scalded ocean and the blazing well”

b. “Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness”

c. “New country at each jaunty helpless journey”

• 3.

a. “All hopes of Proteus rising from the sea”

b. “And the soul wears their breast”

c. “The veil of iridescense on the sand”

We hope you have enjoyed our presentation!