Song of Napalm Analysis
Twelve poems outline the first section of Bruce Weigl's Song of Napalm, which describes the events of the soldiers on and off the battlefield during the Vietnam War. Weigl served from 1967-1968, and his poetry attests to the experiences he had during this time.1. Sailing to Bien Hoa - The opening poem describes a dream Bruce has of boat trip to Bien Hoa. He describes his indifference to his shrapnel-filled leg, and insteadlets his mind wander on. This perhaps was the thinking necessary to alleviate the negative feelings he may have experienced during the war.2. Girl at the Chu Lai Laundry - This poem focuses on a one-time experience that Bruce has when he leaves his laundry (by accident). He runs to retrieve them but cannot get them because they are wet. Weigl describes one of the cases where, despite all of the war going on around him, he still has time to consciously admire a beautiful girl, in an intermix of work (the laundry girl) and war. 3. The Way of Tet - Here Weigl describes what appears to be a scene from inner-city Tet, and he describes a sexual encounter between a male and female from two different backgrounds (most likely and American and a Vietnamese hooker), where he describes in a very artistic way the
Weigl wrote this to illustrate (perhaps) the cruelness of war. Weigl was probably displaying what happens when feelings are taken into account during wartime, as one of the soldier gets close to a local who takes him out (although not directly mentioned) through a charge (small bomb). Surrounding Blues on the Way Down - This poem encourages symbolism, especially in the suggestiveness of the title. This may have been a foreshadow of what was to come. Him, on a bicycle - This poem describes war action on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Monkey - This poem is the longest of the 12, and it goes in-depth on a tour of duty of sorts. Hand to Hand - This prose work is different in structure to the other poems. Something happens to him (perhaps he is beaten or drugged) and his sentence structure becomes repetitious and disorganized into thought collections describing his actions. The poem takes a sharp turn when Weigl describes how the man goes back past the woman and gun-butts her to the ground. Weigl appears to go through an entire tour of duty to explain what goes on in his mind, from the briefing to the return home. Later we get a glimpse of him returning home and he tells his (family?) that he is worn. The narrator hints at the pain he felt during the war, and he probably thought that his friend was gone for good, leaving him alone on the cold, cruel war world. He flings a can of food at a Vietnamese girl's head, and as she is stunned, she retrieves the can and defends her food as the other children plead for the officer to fling another can.
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Tri Map,
Hand Hand,
Surrounding Blues,
Lai Laundry,
Bien Hoa,
Bong Son,
Chi Minh,
Tet Weigl,
American Vietnamese,
weigl describes,
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Acceptance Essays
