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Lament
For the green turtle with her pulsing burden,
in search of the breeding ground.
For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.

For the cormorant in his funeral silk,

the veil of iridescence on the sand,
the shadow on the sea.

For the ocean’s lap with its mortal stain.

For Ahmed at the closed border.
For the soldier with his uniform of fire.

For the gunsmith and the armourer,

the boy fusilier who joined for the company,
the farmer’s sons, in it for the music.

For the hook-beaked turtles,

the dugong and the dolphin,
the whale struck dumb by the missile’s thunder.

For the tern, the gull and the restless wader,

the long migrations and the slow dying,
the veiled sun and the stink of anger.

For the burnt earth and the sun put out,

the scalded ocean and the blazing well.
For vengeance, and the ashes of language.

About the poem :

Gillian Clarke's poem, ‘Lament’, is an elegy, an expression of grief. It can be a sad, military tune played on a bugle. The poem uses the
title as the start of a list of lamented people, events, creatures and other things hurt in the war, so after the word ‘lament’, every
verse, and 11 lines, begin with ‘for’. The poem is about war, and in particular about wars in the Middle East. War can’t be waged
without grave damage to every aspect of life. All the details in the poem came from reports in the media. There were newspaper
photographs of cormorants covered with oil - ‘in his funeral silk’. ‘The veil of iridescence on the sand’ and ‘the shadow on the sea’
show the spreading stain of oil from bombed oil wells. The burning oil seemed to put the sun out, and poisoned the land and the sea.
The ‘boy fusilier who joined for the company,’ and ‘the farmer’s sons, in it for the music’, came from hearing radio interviews with
their mothers. The creatures were listed by Friends of the Earth as being at risk of destruction by oil pollution, and ‘the soldier in his
uniform of fire’ was a horrific photograph of a soldier burnt when his tank was bombed. The ashes of language are the death of truth
during war.
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Gillian Clarke – ‘Lament’

Student’s Worksheet – Let’s analyse the answers ! Do you agree with the student’s answers ?
Stanza 1
1. There are two ‘Fors’ in the first stanza. What are they?

‘For’ means ‘on behalf of”. The poet says that she laments on behalf of the green turtle and her eggs.

2. Comment on the “pulsing burden”.

The word ‘pulsing’ tells us there is life inside the turtle in the form of her eggs or ‘burden’.

3. Comment on the metaphor: “their nest of sickness”. What words do we usually associate with the idea of a nest?

‘Nest’ is usually associated with the ‘home’ of new born birds and small creatures and we think of it as protective. We are startled
and shaken to know that the nest causes illness and possibly death.

Stanza 2
4. The cormorant (bird) is described as being covered in oil. Comment on the words that Gillian Clarke uses to describe this.

‘funeral silk’ is a vivid image appealing to our sight. We can see the smooth layer of oil on the comorant, silken to look at. The
appearance is deceptive as the oil can kill the comorant and become its ‘funeral silk’, a shroud of silk.

5. Pick out two more ways that the oil is described in this stanza and comment on them.

‘veil of iridescence’ is a visual image that evokes the sight of layers of oil shimmering on the beach. It is ironic because while the
shimmering colours seem attractive, we know it is destroying marine life.

‘shadow’ suggests darkness and despair. When something casts a shadow, it creates misery and wretchedness.

Stanza 3
6. What does the word ‘lap’ mean here? Look at the following definitions and choose the best one:

The answer is c.
a. The front area from the waist to the knees of a seated person. (noun)
b. To wash against something with soft liquid sounds. (verb)
c. (of small waves) to wash against (the shore or a boat) with light splashing sounds
d. (often foll. by up)(esp. of animals) to scoop (a liquid) into the mouth with the tongue

7. Look at the meanings of the word stain:

a. A discolored or soiled spot or smudge.
b. A blemish on one's moral character or reputation.

Which one best suits the meaning in the poem?

The answer is a.

Why do you think the stain is described as mortal?

The oil slick is deadly to sea life.

8. Now Clarke moves from the environmental cost of the war to the human cost. Who is Ahmed and why has she chosen this name?
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We can suppose that Ahmed is young soldier, perhaps a child soldier who has been recruited to fight with the promise that he will
bring glory to himself and his family. Ahmed is name we associate with the people of Iraq and is probably a popular name among
Iraqis.
OR
Ahmed can be a civilian who cannot leave because of a ‘closed border’ and could face injury or death though he is innocent.

9. Comment on the image of “his uniform of fire”.

The image is shocking in painting a picture of a child soldier who is on fire from the fallout of the shelling and bombing.

Stanza 4
10. What different jobs are mentioned here in connection with war?

The jobs mentioned are connected with the manufacture of the weapons of war, that is guns and armour.

11. Why have these men joined the war? What do you think of their reasons for joining the war?

They have joined the war ‘for the company’, that is they were influenced by their friends joining and followed along.

The farmer’s son has led a simple life and does not understand what the war is about. He joins ‘for the music’ thinking that it will
exciting and to escape from the boredom of life as a farmer.

Stanza 5
12. Which animals are listed in this stanza? What do you think has happened to them?

These animals have been killed as a result of the bombing: the hook-beaked turtles, the dugong, the dolphin, the whale.

13. How is the sound of the missile described?

We know that thunder roars and is deafening. The missile must have stunned the whale into a state of unconsciousness.

Stanza 6
14. Why do you think the sun is described as ‘veiled’? Where else is the word ‘veiled’ used?

The smoke from the burning oil wells would have cast a shadow on the sun. ‘veiled’ is also used for the oil lick on the sand in stanza
2. .

15. Which three birds are mentioned in this stanza? What happens to them at the end of their long journey?

The tern, the gull and wader are migratory sea birds. They flew from a colder place to the warmth of Iraq and find themselves in a
death trap because of the pollution caused by the bombs.

16. Comment on the final words of the stanza: “the stink of anger”.
The author is expressing her own hatred of war and destruction by using the word ‘stink’ which means a bad smell. The ‘anger’
expresses the cause of war. The attacking country is angry and wants to take revenge.

Stanza 7
17. Look at the adjectives used to describe what has happened to nature:
Adjectives Nature
burnt earth
scalded ocean
blazing well

Comment on the choice of adjectives.

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All the adjectives have to do with destruction caused by burning and heat. The poet wants us to feel the pain and hurt to nature
because of man’s use of bombs, missiles and gun fire.

18. What has happened to the sun? Why do you think we can no longer see the sun?

The heavy pollution has shut out the sun.

19. Comment on the final line. Try to sum up in your own words what you think the poet means?

The last line clinches the message that man in his quest for vengeance by waging war has brought about the ‘ashes of language’
which Clarke explains to mean the death of truth. This powerful metaphor leaves us feeling appalled that people are deceived by why
wars are fought. Her final message is shocking - the truth is cloaked in a web of deceit and lies and as long as that happens, there
will be wars

General Comments
Now that you have looked closely at the poem, think and comment about the following things:

20. Look at the structure of the poem – what can you say about it and why has Clarke chosen this particular structure?

The structure of the poem lends itself to the title ‘Lament’. Each of the seven stanzas begins with the word ‘For’ as she expresses her
sorrow for the losses suffered in the war. Each stanza focuses on an animal or bird or people hurt by the bombing and its aftermath.
By repeating the word ‘for’ Clarke makes her message emphatic and persuasive as the details of death and ruin pile up stanza after
stanza.

21. Why does she repeat the word “For” throughout the poem?

By repeating the word ‘for’ Clarke makes her message emphatic and persuasive as the details of death and ruin pile up stanza after
stanza.

22. What is the tone of the poem? Is it sad or angry or does it change as the poem progresses? Choose particular words to justify
your choice of tone.

The tone is a mix of melancholy and rage as appropriate when one is mourning needless loss.

In "Lament" the tone of the poem is sad and melancholy as the title suggests however there is also a slight tone of deep
anger. The sad and melancholic tone is apparent in the line "For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness" In this line Gillian
Clarke expresses her sorrow on how the eggs of the turtles are not laid in sanitary conditions because their habitats were
destroyed

An example of an oxymoron she uses is, "... in their nest of sickness" In this line, the oxymoron is from the words 'nest of
sickness'. A nest is a structure in which animals give birth or lay their eggs in; it is commonly thought to be a clean and
sanitary place however Gillian Clarke adds the word 'sickness' at the end which makes it an oxymoron because 'nest' and
'sickness' are quite the opposite. This is very effective as it makes the reader think about the conditions of the turtle's
habitat even more. Gillian Clarke also uses a very effective pun in her poem. "the boy fusilier who joined for the company,"
In this line the word 'company' is a pun because it could be that the boy joined for the company of his friends or the army
company instead. Another technique used frequently in "Lament" are metaphors. An example of a metaphor in "Lament" is
"the shadow on the sea". The quote has a negative connotation basically portraying an image in the readers mind about
an oil spill (shadow) in the sea through a metaphor. Other metaphors used in the poem include, "...uniform of fire" and
"...missile's thunder". Gillian Clarke also uses techniques such as onomatopoeia, semantic fields of language and
enjambment in her poem. In the poem, "The Flower-Fed Buffaloes", Vachel Lindsay uses little techniques in the language.

Other sensory images in "Lament" include smell in the line, "...stink of anger", and sight, "in search of the breeding-
ground". Sensory images in "The Flower-Fed Buffaloes" include voice, "...locomotives sing" and taste, "...spring that is sill
sweet" The sensory images in both poems are very apparent. In conclusion, both of the poems contain the same theme
which is the problems that affect nature. However they do not focus on the same aspect. The poem "Lament" portrays
ideas to do with ecological disasters and that of conflict and war and "The Flower-Fed Buffaloes" illustrates how
modernisation leads to the destruction of the natural world. There is also a big contrast in the literary features between the
two poems such as personification, structure, figurative language and the imagery. Both writers use these techniques in
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different ways which differentiates their views. In my opinion, I feel that "Lament" was a better poem. I felt that "Lament"
gave a stronger impact towards my feelings on the problems in the modern world. The way Gillian Clarke used
metaphors, oxymorons and puns made me think about the problems in the gulf and it was very effective to me as a
reader. The different topics such as oil spills, war and turtles appealed to e greatly as well