Champs d’Honneur

     by Ernest Hemingway 

       

Soldiers never do die well;

         Crosses mark the places—

Wooden crosses where they fell,

         Stuck above their faces.

Soldiers pitch and cough and twitch—

         All the world roars red and black;

Soldiers smother in a ditch,

         Choking through the whole attack.

     It's funny how Hemingway can take such a short time to express such full meaning. A big part of Hemingway's style is his reflection on past experiences. He partook in the great war,  was not permitted to embark on field action, so he ended up driving the ambulances. He saw much horrific sights in this job, witnessed the struggles and intense pain of the wounded, the lack of justice that is experienced through war and the emotional hardship and psychologically intense trials the warriors on the field are put through. In this poem, there are two sections that have alternating rhyming (by this I mean that the first line rhymes with the third, the second with the fourth). The first section emphasizes the harsh fate of a soldier-death is not pretty, the wooden cross "stuck above their faces" poignantly alludes to the idea of Jesus and his struggles on the cross. The cross is a constant reminder of the pain and suffering the soldier has been through. This section is more figurative in the fact that it discusses fate through allusion. The second section is way more literal in it's description of the action that the soldier experiences on the field. The imagery is strong and causes the reader to step back and really appreciate what the soldier has done for his people. The tone therefore is one of respect and one of sadness-the soldier will always be remembered for what he has done, but it is a great shame that he lost his life in such a way. I wonder if Hemingway uses his reflection and past experience to emphasize the unnecessary nature of war and a need for better conflict resolution in the world (the tone gave me this idea). Hm, something to think about. Overall, these eight words have provided some great ~Food For Thought~