Analysis of Beach Burial – Essay

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Analysis of ‘Beach Burial’
Kenneth Slessor’s poignant poem, ‘Beach Burial’ contemplates on the improper and unfair burial that the Australian soldiers, who were at war with the Germans during World War 2, receive as a result of the fact that they could not get back home. The main idea that the poet was trying to get across was that as a result of the soldiers not being able to get a proper burial, they are not able to be recognized and are considered to be just another casualty of war: without honor or recognition. The poem emphasizes sadness on the completely useless waste of life; they are simply left how they had died and are now cared by only nature. In the poem, it appears as if these men are soldiers fighting a war at sea and as a result of a shipwreck in which they had died, or had simply been washed up on shore, they are left in the ocean being carried by the water back and forth. Slessor successfully shows this through techniques of assonance, onomatopoeia, rhythm and alliteration along with vivid images of bodies buried in burrows, using these techniques to transfer the emotions of calamity and sadness. The poet represents his poem with a very ironic title, “Beach Burial.” The reason for which this is shown to be ironic is because of the connotations that come with each word: “Beach” representing happiness and family, whereas the connotations with “Burial” are quite the opposite: tragic, death and sadness. The poet uses these words because he wishes to express his idea of how war is slowly destroying our happiness and replacing that with sorrow; this clearly showing his discontent. Within the poem, the poet successfully illustrates the way that the sailors are being carried by the sea by using alliteration, shown by how the soldiers “wander in the waters far under,” (3) the ‘w” sound and assonance emphasizing the bodies being caressed and swaying without control in the ocean. It also portrays the dead soldiers to be helpless and lost because of how they are not in control of anything. The second line,” The convoys of dead sailors come,” (2) uses stresses syllables to show the inevitable movement of the bodies towards the beach. The first two lines combine to illustrate the back and forth movement of the ocean and to give an idea of what is happening to the soldiers. Alliteration is shown as well when the gunfire is personified as “sobbing”(5) and “clubbing,”(5) yet this time to show the brutal and barbaric state of war and to successfully allow the reader to hear the sound of the gunfire by using onomatopoeia (b-b-b-). The interesting use of the word “sobbing”(5) expresses sadness within the poet as a result of the unnecessary spilling of blood. Continuing, Slessor also expresses a sense of peace and calamity in the poem shown by the opening sentence, “Softly and humbly to the Gulf of Arabs,”(1) a very subtle choice of words to create a peaceful atmosphere to emphasize how calm the sea is. This, however, contrasts with the description used to show the destruction of the war, or possible boat crash, emphasizing the destruction being caused by violence.