Asleep in the valley | Arthur Rimbaud | Describe the tragedy of war | facexor

Question: How does the dead soldier describe the tragedy of war? Explain.

Answer: “Asleep in the valley” is written by Arthur Rimbaud. In his poem, a soldier is shown as very young. He is lying quietly in a small valley. He bathed in the sun. It’s a smiling face. The soldier indicates that he is innocent and genuine. The sun is raining on him. The soldier is lying with his mouth open. Shrubs, flowers, and plants are there around him. Yet none of this can wake him up.  The poet gives a natural description of the valley that flows slowly. He has focused much more on the natural beauty of the valley at first.

But Arthur Rimbaud's poem "Valley in Sleep" is a war poem dealing with the deadly consequences of war but the poet revealed much deep about the war than the destructive consequences of war. At the last, we see the bullet marks on the side of his body. Symbolically the poet Arthur Rimbaud tries to elucidate the tragedy of war. It is become clear through the publication of "Two Red Holes" that the soldier dies in war. These red holes in the battlefield are nothing more than ‘bullet wounds’. Thus Poetry declares the futility of war. War only captures young life. So the poet's anger about the war is clear.

 So, ironically, he describes a young soldier who is sleeping happily. His body stretched heavy shrub. The flower has its legs. These flowers can symbolically pay homage to the given martyr that war has taken away his life. So he is sleeping in peace forever. It is his horrible experience of war.