0
Gre20000 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

I dont understand this poem....help

Before Action

We always had to do our work at night.

I wondered why we had to be so sly.

I wondered why we couldn’t have our fight

Under the open sky.

I wondered why I always felt so cold.

I wondered why the orders seemed so slow,

So slow to come, so whisperingly told,

So whisperingly low.

I wondered if my packing-straps were tight,

And wondered why I wondered. Sound went wild . . .

An order came . . . I ran into the night

Wondering why I smiled.

I just bolded the the sentences which I don't understand

Also, can you just tell me a short and simple meaning/story about what is going on in this poem and what is a poet trying to describe/tell us.
  

Top answer

Hi Gre20000, I suppose the poet is describing a soldier at war, who is impatiently waiting to receive orders. before action = before war open sky=outdoors so whisperingly told = told so softly or hushed I wondered if my packing-straps were tight= the soldier is carrying ammunition on him and he is expressing caution wondering why I smiled = describes the irony of desperately waiting for orders (remember he's at war) when he shouldn't be smiling Savvy

— Savvysavz

  • Hi Gre20000, I suppose the poet is describing a soldier at war, who is impatiently waiting to receive orders.
  • before action = before war open sky=outdoors so whisperingly told = told so softly or hushed I wondered if my packing-straps were tight= the soldier is carrying ammunition on him and he is expressing caution wondering why I smiled = describes the irony of desperately waiting for orders (remember he's at war) when he shouldn't be smiling Savvy
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

1 Answers
0
Hi Gre20000,

I suppose the poet is describing a soldier at war, who is impatiently waiting to receive orders.

before action = before war

open sky=outdoors

so whisperingly told = told so softly or hushed

I wondered if my packing-straps were tight= the soldier is carrying ammunition on him and he is expressing caution

wondering why I smiled = des
0

Related Questions