Eva Dobell
The pain and laughter of the day are done
So strangely hushed and still the long ward seems,
Only the Sister’s candle softly beams.
Clear from the church near by the clock strikes ’one’;
And all are wrapt away in secret sleep and dreams.
Here one cries sudden on a sobbing breath,
Gripped in the clutch of some incarnate fear:
What terror through the darkness draweth near?
What memory of carnage and of death?
What vanished scenes of dread to his closed eyes appear?
And one laughs out with an exultant joy.
An athlete he — Maybe his young limbs strain
In some remembered game, and not in vain
To win his side the goal — Poor crippled boy,
Who in the waking world will never run again.
One murmurs soft and low a woman’s name;
And here a vet’ran soldier calm and still
As sculptured marble sleeps, and roams at will
Through eastern lands where sunbeams scorch like flame,
By rich bazaar and town, and wood-wrapt snow-crowned hill.
Through the wide open window on great star,
Swinging her lamp above the pear-tree high,
Looks in upon these dreaming forms that lie
So near in body, yet in soul so far
As those bright worlds thick strewn ion that vast depth of sky.
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This poem offers a haunting and intimate look into the world of soldiers and civilians who, in the aftermath of trauma, drift between the boundaries of wakefulness and sleep. Set in a hospital ward, it paints a stark contrast between the quiet stillness of the night and the restless turmoil within the minds of those who have experienced the horrors of war.
The poem opens with a sense of calm: “The pain and laughter of the day are done / So strangely hushed and still the long ward seems.” This line sets a serene tone, as if the physical world has momentarily quieted. Yet, the stillness is almost too perfect, underscoring the tension that follows. The “Sister’s candle softly beams,” evoking the image of gentle, comforting light in an otherwise somber setting, and the clock striking ‘one’ reminds us that the late hour offers both a literal and metaphorical space for reflection.
However, beneath this calm surface, we are given glimpses of inner turmoil. The “one” who cries out in the night is clearly tormented by something. The description of his fear is palpable: “Gripped in the clutch of some incarnate fear.” The language of “memory of carnage and of death” implies that this man’s trauma is not just a vague recollection but something that has a vivid, almost physical presence in his mind. It is a frightening reminder of how deeply the impact of war lingers, even when the external world has quieted.
Then, in stark contrast, there is the soldier who laughs in his sleep with “an exultant joy.” This moment offers an unexpected twist: an “athlete” whose body might once have been strong and capable but is now crippled, forever changed by the brutalities of war. The juxtaposition of the athlete’s joy with the knowledge that his body will never be the same again underscores the tragedy of war and its ability to rob men not only of their bodies but also of their futures. His dream of winning a game becomes a bittersweet escape from the physical limitations imposed upon him.
The next scene is a quieter one: a soldier murmuring a woman’s name. This image seems to speak to the ways in which the memories of loved ones provide a momentary solace from the overwhelming pain of war. Yet, even as he speaks her name, we sense that this moment of peace is fleeting, another transient reprieve from the deeper scars war leaves behind.
Then, we come to the soldier who is “calm and still as sculptured marble,” a figure that appears motionless in the waking world. But in his dreams, he is free — “roams at will / Through eastern lands where sunbeams scorch like flame” and “wood-wrapt snow-crowned hill.” This soldier is both trapped in his body and liberated in his mind. His dream journey takes him to distant lands, to “rich bazaars” and “towns,” evoking a sense of nostalgia for the adventures and battles he once fought, but now only available to him in the realm of sleep.
The closing lines shift our attention outward, away from the individual soldiers and towards the broader cosmos. “Through the wide open window on great star,” the imagery of a star swinging its lamp above the pear-tree introduces the divine or celestial realm into the poem. The star, in its vastness, seems to represent the eternal, the unattainable, and yet it gazes down on the sleeping soldiers, observing their fragmented dreams. The contrast between the peaceful, distant star and the tormented, scattered dreams of the men below encapsulates the poem’s central tension: the vastness of the universe in contrast to the personal, often painful, realities of human existence. These men lie “so near in body, yet in soul so far,” isolated in their private worlds, unable to truly connect with one another despite their physical proximity.
The poem as a whole captures the depth of psychological and emotional scars borne by soldiers, showing the incongruence between their peaceful surroundings and the internal chaos they endure. Through its shifting perspectives — from the fearful cries of one soldier to the peaceful slumber of another — the poem illustrates the complex inner lives of those who have lived through war. The sleeping soldiers, each of them lost in their own world of memories and dreams, show that the true consequences of war are not just physical but deeply mental and emotional.
Ultimately, the poem speaks to the invisible wounds of war, wounds that can’t be seen or healed by the passage of time, and how these wounds continue to shape and define the lives of those who survive. The distance between the soldiers and the universe outside the window serves as a poignant reminder of the gap between the external world and the interior worlds of those who have been irrevocably changed by their experiences. The final image of the star gazing down at the men offers a sense of both solace and alienation — a recognition of their suffering from a vast, indifferent universe.