#244 The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell is a short yet powerful poem about the death of a ball turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress. As is stated in the poet's notes, the ball turret is located on the bottom of a B-17, and the only people that can operate them are short and small, which adds to the meaning of the poem. To start things off, the poet opens the poem with a metaphor. In his notes, he makes mention of the fact that while manning the ball turret, a man looks like a fetus in the womb. So when the poet writes "From my mother's sleep" he is making the relation between the position he is in is like that to sleeping in his mother's womb. In the next line he says that his "wet fur froze", which can be interpreted to mean that he is also in the position of a sleeping animal, and that it is so cold, he is freezing. The poet also uses imagery with "black flak" and "nightmare fighters". These two phrases put the images of flying shrapnel and planes causing destruction to him and the plane around him, startling him from his sleep and ending his life. Another image provided by the author is that they had to wash him out of the plane with a hose, which tells that his death was a grim scene.

I find that this poem, short in length, provides a powerful message. In all its shortness it tells of a man sleeping peacefully being woken abruptly by weapons fire and being killed while he was trapped in his tiny turret mount, unable to escape. What drives the point home is that he had to be washed from his place. He was torn to pieces by the enemy fire. The whole poem shows just how unpredictable the skies were during World War II, and just how fast a man could be killed carrying out his own duty.

#291 "Poem"

Those looking for a "deeper meaning" in the poem, "Poem", by William Carlos WIlliams will be at a loss, because there is simply no such meaning to be found. It is very simply an example of imagery, telling of a cat climbing over a jamcloset and leaping down. The poem is descriptive despite its overall short length. It tells specifically how the cat moves its legs as it moves and also that it jumps specifically to an empty flowerpot, adding realism to the scene. Another thing that adds to the scene is the rhythm and how the poem sounds when read. It is broken sounding and is very thin, making it seem meticulous and slow, adding to the imagery of a cat slowly and carefully over the top of a jam closet.

I personally like this poem due to its clarity and how good of a job it does of putting the image of a cat jumping into my head. I at first looked for a deeper meaning in the poem, looking at all the parts and thinking what they could possibly mean before i realized that there really isn't one, and that the poem serves as a work of art more than a vessel for some profound meaning. I appreciate this poem because I can read it and take it for what it's worth, meaning that I don't have to dig deep to understand its message, which is quite simply a very brief story about a cat and its climbing.