[395] Naming of Parts
"Vixi duellis nuper idoneus
Et militavi non sine glori"
Today we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But today,
Today we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And today we have naming of parts.
This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easily
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For today we have naming of parts.
-- Henry Reed
|
From 'Lessons of the War'
Dedicated to Alan Mitchell.
I remember reading a not terribly distinguished parody of this poem when I was
in school; many years later, when I discovered the original, I was surprised to
see how very good it was. Indeed, it's one of the more celebrated poems of the
last half-century (though the years have not been particularly kind to Henry
Reed: these days we see him more as a failed Modernist than as a revolutionary
Romantic), and it's not hard to see why: the tone of voice, the choice of phrase
and the repetitive patterning are all instantly recognizable.
That said, though, it _is_ a poem that simply cries out for a parody, isn't it?
thomas.
[Links]
Here's a link to an essay on 'The Imagery of Genesis in Henry Reed's 'The Naming
of Parts'': http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~mquieto/papers/naming.html . It's an
interesting enough piece, though it suffers somewhat from an overly pretentious
and (imho) juvenile style. An extract should suffice to show what I mean:
"Guns and gardens, soldiers and bees: the poem relates the unrelated in order to
draw a clear dichotomy between the forces of life and the forces of death.
However, the poem goes further than merely contrasting opposites. The structure
and language of the poem combine to demonstrate how one should become the other.
The eschatological hope expressed by the harmonious image of this Eden begs and
demands a transformation or conversion into communion with the natural order.
The poem demonstrates that war is contrary to nature."
From: John Nevill <John.Nevill@>
The poem, as anyone who has been a soldier will recognise, is a contrast
between the repetitious boredom of an NCO going through a drill learned by
rote and the simple distraction of what is going on around you on a warm
summers day.
From: Anne.Gibson@ Tue Jul 22 05:51:42 2003
For me this poem is about the futility of Naming, which, especially in
our Western culture with its rather narrow view of the scientific, tends
to stand in for a sense of being in control when we clearly are not, and
for Understanding when clearly we do not. The naming of parts in this
poem stands in opposition to what simply IS in nature - the silent
eloquence of the trees, the glistening japonica blossoms, the bees going
about their business - in constrast to our own inept fumblings with the
weapons of war.... Where are we to seek Wisdom......? Put down your gun
and open your eyes and ears to the world.
Anne
From: "andrea skennerton" <andrea@>
The system of war and nature is expressed here. The expression of
routine with an instrument of death together with the unexplainable
routine of Nature is a paradoxy that can not go without comment. It is
a very sad poem that captures the grief of the New Model Army
pre-campaign grief. Beautiful.
From: Joseph Jerzewski <jjerzew@>
The people who have left comments here have missed the poets purpose and
at least one of his uses of imagery. When Reed writes "Silent in all
of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards" he is
describing the bullets flying past the soldiers heads as "bees". This
imagery is clear to anyone who has ever been under fire, and has been
used by many poets and soldiers alike to describe the sound.
--Boundary_(ID_Wvjew26m1M0g/bDuIcVijw)
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
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style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span
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he is describing the bullets flying past the soldiers heads as “bees”<st1:PersonName>.</st1:PersonName><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>This imagery is clear to anyone who has
ever been under fire, and has been used by many poets and soldiers alike to
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font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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--Boundary_(ID_Wvjew26m1M0g/bDuIcVijw)--
From: "J.M.Sykes" <j.m.sykes@>
John Nevill's comment says it all. It conveys well the disorientation
felt by any sensitive person on being drafted into the armed forces and
subjected to mind-numbing instruction, however necessary.
I speak as one who went through square-bashing at an impressionable age,
though in 1947, rather than during WWII.
From: David <tugger049@>
Um, folks, you are missing a point here, I think.
I remember this poem from many years ago, in college.
I did not need any one to tell me that the "parts"
being named here stand in for other parts that are not
named--in polite society. The private parts.
Um, the bolt sliding back and forth and opening the
"breech" and "easing the spring." We are speaking,
very wonderfully and metaphorically, of sex, that is,
making love, making life. The poet is, among many
other things, implicitly comparing what he and his
fellow soldiers are doing--learning to use metal
"parts" to kill their fellow humans--with what they
could be using other, fleshly "parts" to do: making
humans, not killing them. What is spring the
traditional sense of? Love, of course. What do bees
do? (Yes they are bullets, here, also, I am sure).
Bees fertilize plants. They make sex with plants so
that plants can make fruit.
The poem is about love-making, what young men SHOULD
be doing with their parts, and what in spring they
should be learning to do and enjoying the
learning--instead, alas, they are learning to work
guns (um, what are guns a traditional substitute for?
a man's private part, right??) to kill instead of to
make life.
It's about sex!!!
best,
David
tugger049@
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From: "Tom Schweiger" <tom@>
Thank you David. I was beginning to worry about the others. I wonder
what they think about when they hear a dull compulsory lecture on a warm
spring day?
From: Kuyagerald@
"And rapidly backwards and forwards, the early bees are assaulting and
fumbling the flowers." Obviously, Reed uses nature imagery to create sexual
suppression. This poem is more than a contrast between war and nature; it's a love
poem. One word gives it all away, Japonica, a flower that can only be found in
Japan and some parts of Philippines. The soldier has fallen in love with a
Japanese woman during the war, and he is daydreaming about her. To love this woman
is to love his enemy. The unnatural nature of this love is enforced by his
military beliefs. Henry Reed is merely portraying a man's conflict with the idea
of an interracial relationship during a war.
Gerald
From: "John Viner" <john.e.viner@>
This poem came back to remembrance while I was walking through the quiet
English countryside on a glorious spring day, indeed, japonica is
blooming
in my garden as I write. I studied this poem at university and brought
to it
some intimate knowledge of the Lee Enfield .303 rifle to which Reed is
referring. This weapon remained in UK service - at reserve level - right
up
to the early 1970s, and I well remember the order to "Ease Springs".
Some of the comments posted here are sensitive and reflect the poet's
intention, some are pretentious claptrap and, as for the poem being
about
sex, well poor Henry Reed would turn in his grave. This is a cleverly
crafted and evocative poem and one which I am delighted to recall with
great
delight. That is what Reed would have enjoyed.
From: Rudi von Staden <rudivs@>
Rudi