ASLEEP IN THE VALLEY

                 ASLEEP IN THE VALLEY 

                                     Arthur Rimbaud 

1. Justify the title of the poem - 'Asleep in the Valley'.

Or. How does the poet express the futility of war through his poem 'Asleep in the Valley'.

The central theme of the poem 'Asleep in the Valley' is the futility and meaninglessness of war. Rimbaud himself has witnessed the horrors of war as a soldier and in this poem he reveals his strong anti-war attitude by expressing the tragic aspects of war. The poem presents us with a picture of a young soldier who rests in a small green valley among flowers and buzzing insects. He lies open mouthed with one hand on his chest and a soft smile on his lips.This peaceful picture suddenly changes when we find two red holes on his body.  Bullet marks on the side of his body placed the soldier in a discriminatory position with a beautiful view. The beauty of nature is destroyed by the brutal violence of war.  The soldier's life is over before it can properly blossom. The poet tries to explain the horror of war through various signs and symbols and he says that war is the cause of the death of many innocent soldiers and people. So we can say the title of the poem is highly justified.

2. How does this picture of the soldier describe the tragedy of war? Describe.

The soldier lying peacefully in the sun-drenched bed of the green valley is a perfect picture of stillness and peace. For a moment it seems that the soldier is sleeping in the lap of nature. He lies stretched out in the bushes. His tired legs are covered with flowers. The smile on his face is pure and simple. The gentle rays of the sun seem to fill him with much-needed warmth. Ironically, the poet makes us realize that the young soldier is not asleep but a victim of war. The bullet left two holes in his body reminding us that war results only in loss of life and property. It takes away young lives before they can fully blossom.

3. Bring out the irony of the poem 'Asleep in the Valley'

In the poem 'Asleep in the Valley' Rimbaud also expresses the horrors of war by which even a soldier's life is destroyed. In the first stanza the poet makes the reader believe that the soldier is sleeping in the picture-like landscape of a valley and is nourished by the warm rays of the sun. The soldier lies with his face open and a childlike smile on his face. He is free from the worries of the world. But with an ironic twist, he later reveals the true nature of his sleep. The soldier was pushed to death by the bullet which left a red mark on his body. His sleep is not an extreme state of nature's gentle influence but a reflection of the tragedy of war. A young soldier was killed. The soldier is not a willing sleeper but is inevitably surrendered to death by battle. Through this, the irony of this poem emerges.

4. "In his side there are two red holes." - Who is the person referred to here? What do this 'two red holes' signify? What attitude of the poet to war is reflected here? 

The dead soldier of the poem 'Asleep in the Valley' written by Arthur Rimbaud is mentioned here.

Two red holes are bullet wounds visible on one side of the sleeping soldier's body, which means that the soldier has died of war shooting.

Here the poet has directly realized the war as a meaningless and cruel thing, he himself has witnessed the horrors of war by virtue of being a soldier and the poet expresses in its nature. A war destroys young lives leaving all their dreams unfulfilled and not allowing them to enjoy the joys of life. They become the inevitable prey. In the name of keeping the peace of a country, the war actually leads to the killing of young soldiers. The last line of the poem is a warning against the ravages of war on mankind.