Essay Questions

How is this an example of anti-war poetry?

The death of the young girl who is the child mentioned prominently in the title results directly from the most horrific aspect of modern warfare. Specifically, thus poem is a reaction to the terrorism that has become an aspect of modern-day military conflicts. The contextual background is the World War II-era actual bombing of London by Nazi Germany in the 1940s. This was the first major military conflict in modern history to target civilians in acts of terrorism designed to combat national morale. In previous wars in Europe, the collateral death of such a young girl would have been rare. The child in this poem is less a specific victim than a symbol of the changing nature of warfare in the 20th century.

How does the speaker try to justify the child's death as just a part of the life cycle?

The speaker is outraged by the death of the titular child. He tries very hard to normalize the circumstances. He refuses to mourn the child's death by insisting it no more tragic than any other death of one so young. The speaker even goes to the length of referencing the death as something majestic This lends it an element of glory. The attempt to do so is ironic. He is trying to lessen the meaningless of such a wasteful and abominable demise. The poet winds up only succeeding in making the child's death even more tragic by insisting that this death is simply a natural part of the life cycle.

How is religious imagery used to justify a lack of mourning?

The speaker uses religious imagery throughout this poem. The Biblical setting of Zion and allusions to Psalm 23 are among the examples of this imagery. The child mentioned prominently in the title lies buried among all the dead of history in ancient sands. The corpse has worms for company. This contradictory juxtaposition suggests that the refusal to mourn death as a tragic end is only possible through religious faith. Death is not truly an end if one has faith in the existence of an afterlife. Only through such faith is it possible to view death as a cyclical part of life to be celebrated rather than a meaningless ending to short-lived mortality that is to be mourned.