Guillaume Apollinaire
sweet stabbed figures
dear flowery lips
Mia Mareye Yette Lorie
Annie and you Marie
where are you oh young girls
But near a jet of water that cries and prays
this dove is ecstatic
[jet of water]
All the memories of yesteryear
Oh my friends who have gone to war
Spring up towards the firmament
And your gazes in the sleeping water
Die melancholically
Where are they Braque and Max Jacob
Derain with eyes gray as dawn
Where is Raynal Billy Dalize
Whose names are melancholizing
Like steps in a church
Where is Cremnitz who enlisted
Perhaps they are already dead
My soul is full of memories
The jet of water cries over my pain
[basin]
Those who have gone to war in the north are fighting now
Evening falls Oh bloody sea
Gardens where the oleander flower warrior bleeds abundantly
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This war poem is a poignant reflection on the ravages of conflict, mingling nostalgia with a mournful reckoning. The speaker’s voice is steeped in loss, addressing both the beloved and the fallen. A sense of grief and yearning permeates the lines as the speaker searches for lost figures from the past, young girls and fellow soldiers whose names are etched in memory.
The opening lines—“sweet stabbed figures, dear flowery lips”—evoke a sense of innocence lost to the horrors of war. The speaker calls out to a group of familiar figures, perhaps once vibrant and full of life, now absent. The question “Where are you?” resonates as an expression of deep longing, as if the very essence of their identity has been erased by the conflict. The mention of “Mia Mareye Yette Lorie” and other names presents them as representative of the personal losses experienced by soldiers, making the grief feel more intimate.
In the poem, nature becomes a vessel for sorrow. The “jet of water” cries and prays, an image that underscores the emotional landscape of the speaker, torn by the memories of those who have gone to war. The recurring motif of water reflects cleansing, yet it carries the weight of unspoken pain, as if the tears of the past cannot wash away the memories or provide solace.
The speaker’s shifting focus to the names of famous artists and comrades, like “Braque and Max Jacob” and “Raynal Billy Dalize,” introduces a sense of shared loss among those who once shaped culture and art, now swept into the vortex of war. The mention of “Derain” and “Cremnitz,” artists and soldiers alike, emphasizes the depth of grief as a collective, encompassing not just personal mourning, but the devastation of a generation.
The tone shifts toward a grim acceptance as the poem contemplates the deaths of the fallen, offering a solemn acknowledgment that these figures may already be gone. The final lines, describing a bloody sea and a warrior bleeding in the oleander gardens, pull the reader into the violence of war, where the flowers and gardens of life are tainted with blood and suffering. The “bloody sea” and “gardens” serve as stark metaphors for the destruction, transforming beauty into tragedy.
This poem captures the human cost of war, not just in physical death but in the loss of innocence, the destruction of shared experiences, and the unsettling transition from life to memory. It’s a reflection on how time, grief, and war strip away all that was once familiar, leaving only the shadow of those we loved and lost. The narrative invites the reader to understand the profound impact of war on the personal and collective psyche, where the memories of the past, even in their beauty, become painful and bittersweet reminders of the sacrifices made.