Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Denise Levertov’s poem "Life at War" is a visceral and haunting meditation on the pervasive and enduring impact of war on the human psyche and body. Through stark imagery and profound reflections, Levertov explores the internalized trauma and moral degradation that war inflicts on individuals and societies.

The poem opens with the description of disasters numbing within us, "caught in the chest, rolling / in the brain like pebbles." This metaphor of disasters as physical, intrusive objects suggests how deeply war's traumas embed themselves in our consciousness, creating a constant, uncomfortable presence. The comparison to "lumps of raw dough / weighing down a child's stomach on baking day" evokes a sense of heaviness and unease, highlighting the internal turmoil that war generates.

Levertov invokes Rilke to articulate the emotional burden carried within: "My heart... / Could I say of it, it overflows with bitterness ... but no, as though / its contents were simply balled into formless lumps, thus do I carry it about." This reference underscores the amorphous and pervasive nature of the emotional weight borne by those affected by war. The heart, unable to overflow with a single emotion, is instead burdened with a shapeless, numbing weight.

The poem then broadens its scope to depict the omnipresence of war: "The same war continues. / We have breathed the grits of it in, all our lives, our lungs are pocked with it." This imagery conveys how war permeates every aspect of life, becoming an inescapable part of the human condition. The "mucous membrane of our dreams coated with it" and "the imagination filmed over with the gray filth of it" illustrate how deeply war infiltrates even our subconscious and creative faculties, tainting our dreams and imaginations.

Levertov reflects on the inherent contradiction within humankind: "delicate Man, whose flesh responds to a caress, whose eyes are flowers that perceive the stars," yet capable of unimaginable brutality. This juxtaposition of human sensitivity and barbarity emphasizes the tragic duality of human nature. The line "whose music excels the music of birds, whose laughter matches the laughter of dogs" further highlights the potential for beauty and joy that exists alongside the capacity for violence and destruction.

The poem's most harrowing imagery depicts the atrocities of war in stark, unflinching terms: "the scheduled breaking open of breasts whose milk runs out over the entrails of still-alive babies, transformation of witnessing eyes to pulp-fragments, implosion of skinned penises into carcass-gulleys." These graphic descriptions serve to shock the reader into confronting the horrific realities of war, challenging any sanitized or detached perceptions of conflict.

Levertov addresses the moral dissonance experienced by humanity: "We are the humans, men who can make; whose language imagines mercy, lovingkindness; / we have believed one another / the mirrored forms of a God we felt as good—who do these acts." This acknowledgment of the gap between our ideals and our actions underscores the profound betrayal of our own humanity that war represents. The phrase "burned human flesh is smelling in Viet Nam as I write" grounds the poem in a specific historical context, emphasizing the immediate and ongoing nature of these atrocities.

The concluding lines reflect on the pervasive impact of this knowledge: "Yes, this is the knowledge that jostles for space in our bodies along with all we go on knowing of joy, of love; / our nerve filaments twitch with its presence day and night." Levertov suggests that the awareness of war’s horrors coexists with our experiences of joy and love, creating a constant tension within us. The phrase "nothing we say has not the husky phlegm of it in the saying, nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness, the deep intelligence living at peace would have" captures the pervasive and debilitating impact of war on our lives, affecting our actions, thoughts, and communications.

"Life at War" is a powerful and unflinching exploration of the enduring impact of war on the human soul. Through vivid and graphic imagery, Levertov conveys the internalized trauma and moral degradation that war inflicts, challenging readers to confront the stark realities of conflict and the profound contradictions within human nature. The poem serves as a poignant reminder of the pervasive and enduring presence of war in our lives, even in moments of peace and joy.

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