What were they Like? GCSE

What were they like? by Denise Levertov

Did the people of Viet Nam
use lanterns of stone?
Did they hold ceremonies
to reverence the opening of buds?
Were they inclined to quiet laughter?
Did they use bone and ivory,
jade and silver, for ornament?
Had they an epic poem?
Did they distinguish between speech and singing?

Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.
It is not remembered whether in gardens
stone gardens illumined pleasant ways.
Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,
but after their children were killed
there were no more buds.
Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth.
A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.
All the bones were charred.
it is not remembered. Remember,
most were peasants; their life
was in rice and bamboo.
When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies
and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,
maybe fathers told their sons old tales.
When bombs smashed those mirrors
there was time only to scream.
There is an echo yet
of their speech which was like a song.
It was reported their singing resembled 
the flight of moths in moonlight.
Who can say? It is silent now. 

Watch a clip from Good Morning Vietnam showing situations for Vietnamese people during the war

Context:  

The Vietnam War (1955 – 1975) started as a Civil War between the communist north and the capitalist south. The south received support from western countries, most notably the USA , because they wanted to stop the spread of communism which they saw as a great evil. The north was supported by communist China so two super powers were lending their might to this bloody conflict. Although the USA had been involved in Vietnamese affairs from 1955, they were involved in active combat from 1965 – 1973. During the conflict a huge anti war movement developed and Levertov herself spent time in jail. This poem was written at the height of the anti war movement.   

Structure: 

Free verse, two stanzas. 

The first stanza has six questions that come thick and fast, almost impatiently. We do not know who is asking the questions but can infer it is an American journalist looking for information. There seems to be a lack of respect for Vietnamese people and no empathy or compassion, just a list of objective questions about what the culture was like by somebody not terribly well informed. In other versions of the poem the six questions are numbered (BBC Bitesize), which adds to the cold objective tone that is established in opening stanza, the language very simple and straightforward and not figurative – no similes or metaphors. 

In the second stanza the speaker answers bitterly with real knowledge which the questioner obviously does not have. We do not know the identity or gender of the responder, but the second speaker injects real feeling and passion into the poem and has real feeling for the suffering of the children in Vietnam. They are the voice of experience. 

In the second stanza the questioner is referred to as Sir so there is a formality to this exchange and a distance between the two people in discussion. There is a certain amount of hostility as the speaker answers bitterly insisting that Vietnam was a largely peasant country up against a super power. The replies are full of figurative language and evoke very graphic images that help us to actively see the monstrous things that have happened.  

Poem is set in the future and fortunately does not reflect what has happened since to Vietnam and its people.  

Meaning: 

In this poem Levertov uses six questions and answers to imagine a future for Vietnam after the war where all the people have been destroyed and there is no record of their culture.  Levertov has selected the finest aspects of traditional Vietnamese life as the subject of the questions to remind the readers just what has been lost due to the Vietnam War.  

Use of Language: 

Stanza 1 

1. Viet Nam – underlines questioner’s ignorance – he can’t even spell it properly! Lanterns of stone – beautiful objects 

2. Reverence the opening of buds – religious worship/ceremonies 

3. Quiet laughter – friends/relationships 

4. Bone and ivory – creative ornaments 

5. Epic poem – poetry  

6. Speech and singing – song 

We can infer from the above that traditional Vietnamese life gentle, creative, spiritual, peaceful, civilised and precious.  

Stanza 2 

1. Light hearts turned to stone – evokes despair and heartache of Vietnamese people. It is not remembered – gardens are not important in this context – not appropriate. 

2. There were no more buds – bitter sense of anguish, despair and loss. The war meant there were no more buds (children). War ended everything. 

3. Bitter the burned mouth – harsh alliteration to emphasise anger. The response to laughter is making reference to napalm attacks.  

4. Bones were charred – imagery of burning continues in fourth answer. Charred bones are not great for making objects of joy. Joy and creativity of the past contrasted with the horror of the present. Repetition of remember – a word that appears elsewhere in the poem.  

5. Maybe fathers told their sons old tales – in this reply she paints a picture of the simple peasant lifestyle that Vietnamese people lived. Mirrors – metaphor for paddy fields. There is a feeling of sheer unfairness in that these people who peacefully went about growing their crops should suddenly have the bombs and napalm of superpowers raining down on them - Time only to scream – contrasts poetry and storytelling of the past with the screams of the victims of the bombing.  

6. There is an echo yet – the voices are not entirely forgotten. They are remembered as sounding like the flight of moths. Evokes beauty, softness and fragility of Vietnamese people and their voices. It is silent now – final devastating sentence. The voices will never be heard again.  

Themes:

• Brutality of war 
• Ignorance of American society. Questioner represents uninformed American. 
• Ruin – the destruction of a whole culture. Agriculture, jewellery, but at worse they burned their children.  
• Beauty of Vietnam before the war – profound sense of loss. 

Study Questions for 'What were they like?':

1. Why does the poet use two voices in the poem?

2. What are the main negative and positive images in the poem?

3. How do you feel personally about the experience of the Vietnamese people during the war?