Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Crouched on the crowded deck, we watch the sun
In naked gold leap out of a cold sea
Of shivering silver; and stretching drowsily
Crampt legs and arms, relieved that night is done
And the slinking, deep-sea peril past, we turn
Westward to see the chilly, sparkling light
Quicken the Wicklow Hills, till jewel-bright
In their Spring freshness of dewy green they burn.
And silent on the deck beside me stands
A soldier, lean and brown, with restless hands,
And eyes that stare unkindling on the life
And rapture of green hills and glistening morn:
He comes from Flanders home to his dead wife,
And I, from England, to my son newborn.
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This poem uses simple imagery and contrasts to create a vivid scene of two soldiers, each carrying the weight of personal loss and trauma, returning home from the battlefields of World War I. The opening lines set the scene on the deck of a ship at sunrise, evoking the early morning light and the relief of surviving the dangers of the sea. The sense of calm and renewal is palpable as the soldiers look toward the shore, specifically the “chilly, sparkling light” illuminating the Wicklow Hills in Ireland. The poet highlights the beauty and serenity of nature — the green hills and the fresh morning dew — as a stark contrast to the hardships of war.
However, the soldier beside the speaker, “lean and brown,” with his “restless hands” and unseeing gaze, immediately complicates this peaceful image. His detachment is striking, especially as he stands next to the speaker, a stark reminder of the mental toll that war exacts on those who survive. His eyes do not “kindle” at the sight of the vibrant countryside; instead, they seem frozen, staring without joy or connection at the world around him. The repetition of “restless hands” suggests an inability to find peace or comfort, as though his body is in a state of constant tension, unable to relax even in this moment of physical safety.
The contrast between the speaker’s perspective and the soldier’s adds emotional depth to the poem. While the speaker is returning home to the joy of a newborn son, the soldier is returning to a far darker reality: the death of his wife. The soldier’s grief is profound and perhaps even overwhelming. There is no mention of how long he has been away, but the implication is that his wife has been dead for some time. He is now coming home, not to a place of warmth and familial love, but to a house marked by loss and sorrow. This contrast — the joy of the speaker’s return to family and the soldier’s sorrowful return to death — creates an emotional divide between them, despite their shared experience of war.
What is particularly effective in the poem is the juxtaposition of external beauty and internal trauma. The landscape, the light, and the sense of nature’s renewal are all vivid, but they’re almost muted in the soldier’s presence. His reaction to the world around him is not one of appreciation or even engagement but of emotional numbness. There is a silence between the soldier and the world, a quiet but deep contrast to the life unfolding around him. The poem doesn’t dwell on what the soldier has seen in the war, yet his appearance and behavior speak volumes — his eyes that do not “kindle,” his restless hands, the implication of grief that makes him distant from the world he is returning to. He is a man marked by the experiences of war, unable to reconnect with the joys of home or the beauty of nature.
The speaker’s own joy in returning home is similarly understated. While the imagery of the sun, the sea, and the green hills suggests relief and renewal, there is no overt celebration of the speaker’s homecoming. The joy of the newborn son is mentioned, but it is almost detached from the narrative. This contrast again underlines the emotional distance between the two characters, and the suggestion that, while the speaker may find solace in the return to his family, the soldier’s grief cannot be so easily assuaged. Both men are returning home, but their experiences are vastly different, and the poem quietly underscores the deep emotional scars that war leaves behind.
In essence, this poem speaks to the tragic division between the promise of peace and the harsh reality of its aftermath. It presents an image of homecoming, but one that is haunted by loss and a disconnection from the very thing that home is supposed to represent. The landscape, in all its vivid beauty, stands in stark contrast to the soldier’s interior world, and the poem’s power lies in this subtle tension — the inability of the soldier to engage with the life around him, and the distance between his sorrow and the speaker’s joy. This is not just a poem about war; it is a meditation on how war changes the people who live through it, and how, even when they return to the familiarity of home, they are never fully able to leave its shadows behind.