Can anyone help me understand Arthur Rimbaud's poem War?

Question

In an English class, I was assigned the poem War by Arthur Rimbaud...

"When a child, certain skies sharpened my vision:
all their characters were reflected in my face.
The Phenomena were roused.

-- At present, the eternal inflection of moments
and the infinity of mathematics
drives me through this world where
I meet with every civil honor,
respected by strange children
and prodigious affections.

-- I dream of a War of right and of might,
of unlooked-for logic.
It is as simple as a musical phrase."

Can anyone help me in understanding the meaning of this poem? Or at least point me in the right direction?

Answer 1

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Oh oh oh ! Rimbaud! He was very, very young when he wrote this and was very respected during his time. He also played an important role in influencing the Modernist movement that were embraced by people such as T.S. Eliot and later on, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.

His "War" poem was part of the collection that was published in 1874, "Illuminations" the collection was called. Rimbaud, however, had started writing since 1869 - which is an important marker considering the Franco-Prussian war that broke out in 1870. Thus, it is important to relate this extract to the context of the period because his writing might be directly influenced by what he sees at that point in time.

Anyway, the first stanza speaks about the sense of innocence that he experiences as a child, where looking at the skies "sharpened" his view of things and he finds a sense of communion with the world that he lives in, in which a "Phenomena" or something that is wonderful occurs. It was a simple life and very beautiful.

The second stanza shows a shift of mood. He's talking about the present, when he's grown up, where there are various changes in moments ("inflection of moments"), mathematics and he's getting attention from people he did not know. He was respected by the citizens ("Civil Honor") and well liked it seems. It's interesting that Rimbaud talks about "children" because he was only 17 when he wrote this. But the point remains that he feels out of place in the present, because everything is complexed and he did not understand the complexities he was exposed to. It is also important to take note of his use of the words "inflection of moments". "Inflection" means "change in pitch or tone of voice", which is useful as we come to the end of the poem.

This last stanza is what I would call writing with a "visionary" aspect. He dreams of the future, of a war that will be fought and it will be a war that is totally incomprehensible. (And you must admit he was right because, somehow, as he seems to foresee the coming of WWI!) The last line "It is as simple as a musical phrase" is done in irony. A musical phrase is certainly not simple because it doesn't explain anything and different people react differently to it. For some, it may be noise, but for others very beautiful. So, the ending of this poem seems to be a warning of the times to come.

Heh... brilliant work, this. And he was totally cute too. :D

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimbaud

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Asker's Comment:

Wow, wow, wow. I wish I could give you more than five stars! This is without a doubt the most helpful, definitive answer I've ever received on Yahoo! Answers. Bravo!

Answer 2

sounds bizzare to me. I would only guess it is trying to make sense of war., Hoping there is some sort of logic envolved.
Very cryptic. Not very good either.
If you want to write and publish your writing, you should be trying to get through to people, not confuse them in a smokescreen of possible meanings