Annelyse Finley
Finley/ English 354 /Fall Term 1997
In Edmund Blunden's "Preparations for Victory," the concepts of death and victory are entwined. Blunden demonstrates the extreme polarization of the war, with victory as the ultimate goal and death as the ultimate form of losing. Through this dichotomy, however, Blunden portrays the great irony of the war: the inextricable link between victory and death actually forms an identity - victory equals death.
The poem's speaker is noticeably divided - the speaker's voice talks to his soul and body as though they were separate and distinct. (Compare Palmer 99) The voice takes on the role of an omniscient observer and authority figure. The voice, in preparation for victory, gives encouragement to the body and soul, urging the soul to maintain faith and the body to exercise strength. The separation between voice, body, and soul creates an unworldliness in the poem, one that foreshadows death. In life, voice, soul, and body are inseparable - it is only through death that the division between body and soul can be achieved.
This theme of death or the underworld is also furthered by the description of the battlefield between the trenches: "Hovering between, a ghostly enemy." The opponent in the war is not thought of as a physical, visible being. On the contrary, the enemy is invisible, a ghost that haunts and hovers after life has passed and death begins. This supernatural quality gives a distinct warning that the war is no mere sporting contest with competitors striving for victory.
The separation between soul and body implicitly creates an antagonistic relationship between the two. The soul is instructed not to dread the field, but also to notice the scenes of life: gardens, mossed boughs, apples, houses. The soul in turn replies with reluctance and regret, noting that things are not as they should seem; reality is instead clouded by the presence of war. In comparison, the body, dumb as Shakespeare's Caliban, does not speak. Relegated to physical labor, the soldier Caliban exists on a level lower than humans. Caliban's image suggests that the soldiers represent man on a de-humanized level, possessing neither reason nor grace. The brutish body is left to struggle on without wisdom. This distinction between soul and body symbolizes also the division between officers and enlisted who fought in the war, and the conflicts between the two.
Blunden is not subtle in implying that death is wrapped up in this battle scene. He sets the tone of unnaturalness through the improper descriptions of "shouting smoke[s]" and "snarling jags of fiery iron." (3-4) Readers are caught off guard by the personification of these impersonal things - the atmosphere of the poem becomes more ominous. The narrative voice continues this foreshadowing through the descriptions of the pastoral: the "house as yet unshattered by a shell," the "yet unmurdered tree," and the dice "as yet may not be flung" to claim the soldier's life. However, although these things continue to exist, it is certain that the house will eventually be shattered, the tree murdered, and the soldier's life claimed. The final image of the poem denotes a skyless, lightless eternity in the trenches, intentionally conjuring up the semblance of being buried.
In preparing the soldier, the voice instructs the body and soul to "manly move amongst these ruins," referring to the bodies and parts of bodies that have been strewn out and neglected on the battlefields and in the trenches. (5-6) The use of the word "ruins" brings to mind ancient Greece with its marble columned buildings. Just as those buildings once seemed impervious to destruction, so too did the generation of bright young men who went off to fight. The speaker goes on to say: "What you must do, do well," informing the soldier that the task of war is unavoidable, and glory and honor are attained through excelling at one's duty. (6) However, it is impossible to escape the irony of these words: the duty of the soldier to perform well is directly related to the ruins described at the beginning of the line. In order for the soldier to do his duty, he must bring the enemy to ruin, while at the same time, avoiding a similar fate. Blunden highlights the futility of war and the tragic actions of its participants: both sides, in an attempt to achieve victory, must do so by bringing about death. In the end, there is no tangible or spiritual victory, only the presence of death and the persistence of war.