Guillaume Apollinaire
The regiment arrives
The village is almost asleep in the perfumed light
A priest has his helmet on his head
Is the champagne bottle an artillery or not
The vines like the ermine on a shield
Hello soldiers
I saw them running back and forth
Hello soldiers champagne bottles where the blood
ferments
You will stay a few days and then go back up in line
Echeloned like the vines
I send my bottles everywhere like the shells of a
charming artillery
The night is blond oh blond wine
A winegrower sang bent over in his vineyard
A winegrower without a mouth at the bottom of the horizon
A winegrower who was himself the living bottle
A winegrower who knows what war
is A champagne winegrower who is an artilleryman
It is now evening and we play fly
Then the soldiers will go up there
Where the Artillery uncorks its sparkling bottles
Come on Goodbye gentlemen try to come back
But no one knows what can to come about
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This war poem captures the tension between the mundane and the horrific, using the contrast of soldiers, champagne, and vineyards to juxtapose the beauty of life with the brutal reality of war. The poem opens with the image of the regiment arriving in a peaceful, almost idyllic village, “almost asleep in the perfumed light.” This scene evokes a calm, pastoral atmosphere, but it quickly becomes more complex as the priest wears a helmet, a reminder that war is ever-present, even in the most serene environments.
The reference to champagne bottles, possibly as symbols of artillery shells, underlines the absurdity and violence of war. The image of champagne fermenting into blood is a stark juxtaposition of the festive nature of wine with the brutal, destructive forces of war. The soldiers are introduced with a detached, almost mechanical quality, “echeloned like the vines,” suggesting that they, too, are part of the larger machinery of war—both soldiers and vines being shaped by the forces around them. The phrase “I send my bottles everywhere like the shells of a charming artillery” presents a strange blending of the beauty of wine and the terror of war, both of which have devastating consequences, but in vastly different ways.
The winegrower, who “sang bent over in his vineyard,” becomes a symbolic figure of the ordinary person caught between the beauty of life’s natural rhythms and the violent disruption of war. The winegrower’s transformation into “the living bottle” reflects the way people are consumed by the war machine, losing their individuality to become part of the larger conflict. His understanding of war suggests that, like the soldiers, he has been marked by the violence and destruction around him.
The final stanzas shift toward a more somber tone, with the soldiers leaving the village, “echeloned like the vines,” and returning to the front line, where “the Artillery uncorks its sparkling bottles.” The imagery of uncorking bottles is transformed into an act of violence, with shells being “uncorked” in place of champagne. The final line, “But no one knows what can to come about,” reminds us of the uncertainty and unpredictability of war. Despite the soldiers’ departure, the question remains whether they will return, and the poem leaves the reader with a sense of impending doom, mirroring the uncertainty of war itself.
The poem successfully uses imagery of wine, champagne, and vineyards to contrast the beauty of life with the horrors of war, capturing both the disorienting and devastating effects of conflict. It portrays how the war permeates every aspect of life, from the priest’s helmet to the winegrower’s transformation, creating a world where beauty and brutality are inextricably linked. Through its stark contrasts, the poem conveys a sense of inevitability, loss, and the haunting presence of war in even the most peaceful corners of life.