Surely you stay my certain own, you stay
             My you. All honest, lofty as a cloud.
             Surely I could come now and find you high,
             As mine as you ever were; should not be awed.
             Surely your word would pop as insolent
             As always: "Why, of course I love you, dear."
             Your gaze, surely, ungauzed as I could want.
             Your touches, that never were careful, what they were.
             Surely – But I am very off from that.
             From surely. From indeed. From the decent arrow
             That was my clean naivete and my faith.
             This morning men deliver wounds and death.
             They will deliver death and wounds tomorrow.
             War is a reality that has plagued man for many centuries. It effects all aspects of life and has often been the historical turning point for many movements that have changed the world's views about race, culture, society, economics, and politics. This is evident in most history books and political records, but the plight of the common man, the solider, the mourning wife, the parent or friend, is often forgotten about except for in literary works. Gwendolyn Brooks' Gays Chaps at the Bar is a collection of sonnets written in reaction to the problems as well as realities of World War II. In it she poetically explores the topics of loss, duty, danger, and love in relation to war, but her poems are not typical sonnets. As a seminal writer, Brooks effectively uses poetic forms such as rhyme and rhythm to enhance the social commentary of her poetry, proving that she has mastered traditional poetic devices. For example, in the sonnet love note I: surely, she takes the love relationship of one couple and shows how it can be changed by the cruelties of war. Their love affair, something that was genuine, is suddenly doubted because of the realities of that which is going on in the world around them. Not only has the war taken the lives of the soldiers that are fighting in it, but it has also taken away the speaker's faith in ...