Class 11 English Lesson 12: Poem: The Gift in Wartime by Tran Mong Tu

 

Poem: The Gift in Wartime by Tran Mong Tu (page 252)

About the Poet

Tran Mong Tu was born and grew up in Hai Dong, North Vietnam, in 1943. She frequently contributes poems and short stories to Vietnamese literary publications in the US and other countries. “War is a terrible thing,” says Tran, who has first-hand experience of the Vietnam War (1954-1975).

Tran addresses an absent person (a lovable person). For example, as she says, “I offer you roses,” the person to whom she is speaking is not present and can neither listen nor understand what she is saying (because he is no more).

Central Idea of the Poem

The central Idea of the poem is the consequences of the war amongst humans. War never brings peace, happiness, or prosperity. The only thing that war guarantees is disparity and a dark future. Death, blood, pain, loss, sorrow, destruction, downfall, etc., are the only things that war brings to us. The poetess has used literary devices like irony, metaphor, apostrophe, anaphora, and imagery to bring impressions upon the readers through this poem.   

Summary of the Poem

In the poem, the speaker, who has to face the death of her beloved in a war, speaks directly to him, contrasting what she has to offer him – she lost youth and her lost dreams – to what he has to offer her, his death, his grave, his medals, and his shrapnel (the small pieces of bomb).

There are altogether seven different stanzas here in this poem. The main theme of this poem is the inhuman aspects of war and its effects on humans. The speaker has presented a terrible picture of war that has snatched all the happiness from her life. The Gift in Wartime tells of Tran Mong Tu's experiences during the Vietnam War. 

The author writes that war is a terrible thing that widows and young brides experience. She writes of how young troops return with medals and silver stars unused and still shining in their motionless bodies. The poem is written in a dramatic monologue form, where the speaker (a widow) addresses an unknown "you", who is her (dead) husband. On the surface level, it is only an account of what gifts she gave to her husband, and in return, what he gave her. She has offered a rose on his grave and has covered it with her wedding gown. She has offered him her youth, her prime time, her love, and pleasant spring.

In return, the husband's gifts are his medals, badges, his uniform (wardress), stained with his blood and the smell of his enemy's blood. He is dead now, so his dead body has also been a gift to her. She ends her saying hopefully to meet him in their next life. She will keep the shrapnel as a token, which will help them know and recognise each other in the next life.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDjKhwHyGCk

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a.      Who is the speaker addressing, and why can that person not hear or understand what she is saying?

The speaker is addressing her husband. He cannot hear or understand what she is saying because he is dead.

b.     What can you infer about the speaker’s feelings for the person addressed as “you”?

Her feelings for that person she addresses as “you” are full of love, affection, and devotion. She has gifted him all the pleasures of life. She is saddened by his demise. Although he is no more in the world, she is still hopeful of meeting him in their next life.

c.      What is the speaker’s attitude toward war?

The speaker has a bitter attitude towards war as she has lost her husband.

d.     In what ways do you think this person’s fate has affected the speaker?

This person’s fate was to die in the war because he was a soldier. The speaker’s happiness and youth ended with his death. Thus, the ill-fate of the person has made her helpless, loveless, and miserable.

e.      What does the speaker promise at the end of the poem? Why do you think the speaker does this?

At the end of the poem, the speaker promises to meet her lovable person in their next life. She wants to take the shrapnel as proof to show him the reason behind his death and their separation. I think the speaker does this because her love for the absent person is so deep, and she wants to be in love with him again and again.

 

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