The Wound in Time
By Carol Ann Duffy
It is the wound in Time. The century’s tides,
chanting their bitter psalms, cannot heal it.
Not the war to end all wars; death’s birthing place;
the earth nursing its ticking metal eggs, hatching
new carnage. But how could you know, brave
as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?
The end of God in the poisonous, shrapneled air.
Poetry gargling its own blood. We sense it was love
you gave your world for; the town squares silent,
awaiting their cenotaphs. What happened next?
War. And after that? War. And now? War. War.
History might as well be water, chastising this shore;
for we learn nothing from your endless sacrifice.
Your faces drowning in the pages of the sea.
Summary of The Wound in Time
- Popularity of “The Wound in Time”: “The Wound in Time” by Carol Ann Duffy, a British professor, teacher, academic and writer, is an interesting poetic piece. The poem was specifically written for The Pages of the Sea and appeared in it in 2018. The popularity of the poem lies in its pacifist thematic strand and its emergence on the commemoration of the Armistice in 2018.
- “The Wound in Time” As a Representative of Pacificism and Horrors War: Citing the WWII as the wound in time, Duffy beautifully calls on the time that tides were chanting psalms to calm down the commotion after the war. However, as the birthplace of death, the earth is hatching new carnages. The poet points to a new war, the war that started to end the war, and goes on to say that the marines never knew what was going to happen to them in it. It seems to the poet that God is no more in this fog of war and air, while the poetry, too, is bleeding profusely. The poet looks at the cenotaphs and questions the future repeating the word “war” several times. He concludes that it could be that history becomes water and goes after such shores, but the fact remains that human beings learn nothing from history whether it is in water, or in the pages of the sea.
- Major Themes in “The Wound in Time”: Horrors of war, pacifism and human folly are three major themes of the poem. The poet, though, talks about the time and its different happenings presents the soldiers how they knew nothing when they left in the belief that they were going in boats. The horrors of the war, however, robbed them of their belief in God and humanism that is the hallmark of poetry. The poem seeks forgiveness from this war of “war” repeating it several times, saying when it happens the silence prevails on the town squares to commemorate the death of its victims. The interesting point, however, is that human beings are prone to commit the same follies over and over despite having learned serious tragic lessons.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Wound in Time”
literary devices make poetic or prose writing beautiful and worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem “The Wound in Time” shows this fact as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “But how could you know, brave / as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?”, /o/ in “The end of God in the poisonous, sharpneled air” and the sound of /e/ in “History might as well be water, chastising this shore.”
- Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration that means to use consonant sounds in the initials of neighboring words such as the sound of /w/ in “war, war” and the sound of /s/ in “squares silent.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /b/ and /r/ in “But how could you know, brave / as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?”, /w/ and /r/ in “War. And after that? War, and Now? War. War,” and the sound of /r/ and / / in “for we learn nothing from your endless sacrifice.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
Poetry gargling its own blood. We sense it was love
you gave your world for; the town squares silent,
awaiting their cenotaphs. What happened next?
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “Not the war to end all wars; death’s birthing place”, “But how could you know, brave / as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?” and “Your faces drowning in the pages of the sea.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows metaphors such as of Time, century, sea, and time squares as they are compared to different things.
- Personification: The poet has used personifications such as of the earth, poetry, and seas as having life and emotions of their own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols such as cenotaphs, shore, sea, and pages to show the horrors of war.
- Simile: The poem shows the use of a personification such as; But how could you know, brave and as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Wound in Time”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows the use of simple diction. Its tone, however, is tragic, ironic as well as
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. The poem is a single stanza, having total fourteen verses.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “The Wound in Time” are relevant to quote when talking about human follies and human history.
History might as well be water, chastising this shore;
for we learn nothing from your endless sacrifice.
Your faces drowning in the pages of the sea.
