World Literature in Translation- 23BEN4C1 Unit II, Lesson 6: Jean Arasanayagam - "Two Dead Soldiers"

 World Literature in Translation- 23BEN4C1

Unit II, Lesson 6: Jean Arasanayagam - "Two Dead Soldiers"

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TWO DEAD SOLDIERS

-          JEAN ARASANAYAGAM

Two dead soldiers in bronze

Lying flat on a battlefield,

Anywhere.

Dismembered trunks and heads,

Severed membranes, nerves

Are tangled threads wrapped in blood,

Freezing in ice or clotted with mud.

 

They have no eyes,

they have no tongues

Sightless and blind and speechless

Shreds of rags

 Flutter in the miserable wind

 To cover the corpses.

 

The cloth, the flesh, the skin

 Are of one colour and one texture.

 

 Outflung and still the cracked bone

 Of the broken arm, its crooked wing, unpinioned.

Unweaponed, the slack fingers of those

Useless hands.

Two dead soldiers

are a whole battlefield

Two faces, a million.

 

- Jean Arasanayagam

 

 

Stanza 1:

Two dead soldiers in bronze
Lying flat on a battlefield,
Anywhere.
Dismembered trunks and heads,
Severed membranes, nerves
Are tangled threads wrapped in blood,
Freezing in ice or clotted with mud.

Summary:

The poem opens with a stark image of two fallen soldiers cast in bronze—perhaps statues meant to memorialize them—lying lifeless on a battlefield. The use of “anywhere” suggests that the location is universal, emphasizing that this scene could belong to any war, any nation. The description of their bodies—“dismembered trunks and heads,” “severed membranes, nerves”—evokes the horrific physical toll of war. The poet uses visceral imagery like “tangled threads wrapped in blood” and bodies “freezing in ice or clotted with mud” to stress the brutal, dehumanizing conditions on the battlefield.

Stanza 2:

They have no eyes,
they have no tongues
Sightless and blind and speechless
Shreds of rags
Flutter in the miserable wind
To cover the corpses.

Summary:

This stanza highlights the total loss of humanity. The soldiers are now faceless and voiceless—“no eyes,” “no tongues”—stripped of individuality and identity. They are blind and mute, with no way to tell their stories. The image of “shreds of rags” fluttering over the corpses emphasizes the desolation and futility, suggesting a pitiful attempt to preserve dignity in death. The “miserable wind” adds to the bleak, hopeless atmosphere.

Stanza 3:

The cloth, the flesh, the skin
Are of one colour and one texture.

Summary:

Here, Arasanayagam introduces a profound statement about equality in death. Regardless of their race, nationality, or background, the dead soldiers’ bodies have become indistinguishable—“one colour and one texture.” This line undermines the divisions that often fuel war, implying that all human life is the same in the end.

Stanza 4:

Outflung and still the cracked bone
Of the broken arm, its crooked wing, unpinioned.
Unweaponed, the slack fingers of those
Useless hands.

Summary:

This stanza focuses on the physical ruin of war. The imagery of a “cracked bone,” a “crooked wing unpinioned,” likens the arm to a bird with a broken wing—grounded and helpless. “Unweaponed” and “useless hands” suggest that death has rendered the tools of war irrelevant. These once powerful warriors now lie powerless and broken, emphasizing the futility of violence.

Stanza 5 - Final:

Two dead soldiers
are a whole battlefield
Two faces, a million.

Summary:

The closing lines are a haunting conclusion. These two soldiers are symbolic of the countless others who have died in war. “Two dead soldiers are a whole battlefield” shows how the devastation of war is encapsulated in just two bodies. “Two faces, a million” reflects the anonymity and scale of loss in warfare. The individual becomes a symbol of the masses, and in their death, they represent all victims of war.

 

Overall Message:

Jean Arasanayagam’s “Two Dead Soldiers” is a deeply moving anti-war poem that strips away the glory and honor often associated with warfare, replacing it with a raw, unflinching portrayal of death, decay, and loss. Through stark imagery and symbolic representation, the poem pleads for the recognition of shared humanity and the tragic futility of violent conflict.

 Essay: The Poetics of War and Humanity in Jean Arasanayagam’s "Two Dead Soldiers"

Introduction:

Jean Arasanayagam’s “Two Dead Soldiers” is a poignant anti-war poem that strips away the illusion of glory traditionally associated with war and replaces it with a graphic and humane portrayal of its consequences. Through visceral imagery and minimalist expression, the poet challenges the reader to confront the dehumanizing aftermath of violence. Though the title refers to just two individuals, these figures symbolically represent the millions who have perished in battlefields across time and geography. The poem acts as a universal lament and a powerful commentary on the futility of war.

 

Visual Brutality and Dehumanization:

The poem begins with the stark lines:

Two dead soldiers in bronze
Lying flat on a battlefield,
Anywhere.

From the outset, Arasanayagam emphasizes the anonymity and universality of wartime death. “Bronze” not only alludes to memorial statues but also connotes a cold, lifeless permanence. The placement of “anywhere” immediately detaches the poem from a specific context, making it a universal statement about war. This is not just about two individuals but a global history of countless conflicts.

She continues:

Dismembered trunks and heads,
Severed membranes, nerves
Are tangled threads wrapped in blood,
Freezing in ice or clotted with mud.

This violent, graphic imagery forces the reader to witness the grotesque destruction war inflicts upon the human body. Arasanayagam’s diction—“dismembered,” “severed,” “tangled threads”—portrays the body as reduced to a mutilated mass of flesh and blood. By comparing nerves and membranes to “threads,” she deconstructs the body into a fragile, broken system. The use of “ice” and “mud” evokes a harsh environment where the human form is not only destroyed but also discarded and forgotten.

 

Loss of Identity and Voice:

In the next stanza, Arasanayagam deepens the dehumanization:

They have no eyes,
they have no tongues
Sightless and blind and speechless

Here, the repeated negations strip the soldiers of their sensory and communicative faculties, robbing them of agency. These men cannot see, speak, or be seen as individuals anymore. The repetition reinforces the erasure of identity and the inability of the dead to testify to their own suffering.

Shreds of rags
Flutter in the miserable wind
To cover the corpses.

The image of tattered cloth fluttering “in the miserable wind” is hauntingly evocative. It is both literal—referring to torn uniforms or burial shrouds—and symbolic of the vain attempt to restore dignity to lifeless forms. The phrase “miserable wind” captures the bleakness of the atmosphere, suggesting both physical and emotional desolation.

 

Equality in Death:

The most profound moment in the poem comes in a deceptively simple stanza:

The cloth, the flesh, the skin
Are of one colour and one texture.

Here, Arasanayagam delivers a powerful anti-war and anti-discrimination message. All divisions—of race, nationality, ideology—dissolve in death. War, which is often justified through notions of difference, ultimately reveals the sameness of human life. In death, there is no distinction between friend and enemy, black or white, East or West. This line encapsulates a pacifist ideal: the recognition of shared humanity.

 

The Futility of Violence:

The following stanza explores the brokenness and uselessness of violence:

Outflung and still the cracked bone
Of the broken arm, its crooked wing, unpinioned.
Unweaponed, the slack fingers of those
Useless hands.

The arm is described like a “crooked wing,” invoking the image of a fallen bird—something once capable of flight, now shattered and grounded. The word “unpinioned” (meaning deprived of wings or power to fly) conveys a deep sense of helplessness. The “slack fingers” that once wielded weapons are now “useless,” emphasizing the irony of militarism: that all weapons, all combat, eventually end in impotence and death. The war has not only destroyed life but rendered the very tools of war irrelevant.

 

Symbolism and Universality:

The final lines of the poem encapsulate its message:

Two dead soldiers
are a whole battlefield
Two faces, a million.

In these lines, Arasanayagam moves from the individual to the collective. The two dead soldiers become synecdochic representations of all those who have died in war. “A whole battlefield” suggests that the totality of war can be summed up in their broken bodies. The phrase “Two faces, a million” collapses the divide between singular and plural, name and number, reminding us of the countless anonymous lives lost to violence.

 

Conclusion:

Jean Arasanayagam’s “Two Dead Soldiers” is a deeply moving indictment of war. It transcends geographical and historical boundaries to confront the reader with the sheer physical, psychological, and moral devastation of armed conflict. Through stark, unsettling imagery and a deliberate focus on the mutilated human form, the poet forces us to witness what is often sanitized in official narratives. Yet amidst this horror, Arasanayagam offers a glimmer of insight: that in death, all are equal, and the divisions we kill each other for are rendered meaningless. The poem stands not just as a memorial to the fallen, but as a profound plea for peace and human recognition.