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Lexicon the Misery of War As Seen in Stephen Crane's War

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Lexicon the Misery of War As Seen in Stephen Crane's War LEXICON VOLUME 2 Number 1, April 2013 Page 57 - 65 THE Misery OF WAR AS SEEN IN STEPHEN CRANE’S WAR IS KIND AND Walt WHITMAN’S DIRGE FOR TWO VETERANS Luqman Nur Chandra INTISARI Artikel ini mendiskusikan hasil penelitian terhadap dua puisi, yaitu puisi berjudul War is Kind yang ditulis oleh Stephen Crane dan Dirge for Two Veterans yang ditulis oleh Walt Whitman. Tema yang terkandung di dalam kedua puisi tersebut adalah perang. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan kesedihan yang disebabkan oleh perang dan untuk membandingkan cara kedua puisi tersebut di dalam mengekspresikan tema tentang perang.Pendekatan yang di- gunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan objektif. Pendekatan ini dipilih karena analisis hanya berdasar kepada elemen-elemen yang ditemukan di dalam puisi. Metode yang digunakan di dalam penelitian ini adalah studi perpustakaan. Kemudian metode deskriptif diterapkan untuk menjelaskan puisi secara deskriptif melalui interpretasi tiap bait di dalam puisi. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kesedihan yang disebabkan oleh perang itu nyata dan mempengaruhi banyak orang di dalamnya. Baik puisi War is Kind ataupun Dirge for Two Veterans sama-sama menggambarkan tentang kematian dan kesedihan yang disebabkan oleh perang, walaupun dengan ekspresi yang sedikit berbeda. War is Kind menonjolkan ironi bahwa ‘perang itu baik’ untuk memunculkan kesan yang sangat buruk. Penggunaan ironi ini mencoba mempengaruhi pembaca untuk menghakimi bahwa perang sangatlah buruk. Dirge for Two Veterans juga menunjukkan bahwa kematian merupakan konsekuensi dari perang. Namun dalam puisi ini kesedihan digambarkan sebagai sesuatu yang harus bisa dihadapi walaupun menimbulkan ke- takutan dan menghantui pikiran. Kata Kunci: kesedihan, perang, kematian, ironi ABSTRACT This article discusses two poems, a Stephen Crane’s poem entitled War is Kind and a Walt Whitman’s poem entitled Dirge for Two Veterans. These two poems are about the war. The objectives of the study are to illustrate the misery that is caused by the war and to compare the differ- ent way’s of expressing the same theme in these two poems. The approach used in this research is the objective approach. This approach is chosen because the analysis is solely based on the elements found in the poems. This paper uses the library research as the method of research. Then the descriptive method is applied to explain the poems descriptively by interpreting each stanza in the poems. The result of the research shows that the misery which is caused by war exists and affects so many peo- ple. Both Stephen Crane’s War is Kind and Walt Whitman’s Dirge for Two Veterans provide us with images of death and misery that are caused by the war though in a slight different way in expressing the theme. War is Kind highlights the irony of ‘war is kind’ to provoke the sense of dreadfulness. By using this irony, it tries to influence the readers to judge that war is not kind at all. Walt Whitman’s Dirge for Two Veterans also points out death as the consequence of the war. But in this poem, misery is described as something that should be endured though it is haunting and frightening. Keywords: misery, war, death, irony 57 LEXICON, Volume 2, Number 1, April 2013 INTRODUCTION about the theme of war. Stephen Crane and It should be understood that poetry can Walt Whitman are among these war-poem be written for various reasons and purposes. writers. Stephen Crane’s War Is Kind talks Some poems are written purely to entertain about the theme of war in the Spanish-Amer- us while others are for the purpose of moral ican War while Walt Whitman’s Dirge for persuasion. “Many poems try to be both en- Two Veterans talks about the same theme in tertaining and instructive, both amusing and the American Civil War. Although these two edifying at the same time” (Reaske 8). Some poems have the same theme but each of the poems use irony which results from the con- poems has its own characteristic in expressing trast between the actual meaning of a word the misery that is caused by the war. or statement and a suggested meaning. There This Paper discusses Stephen Crane’s is also the term sarcasm which is considered poem entitled War is Kind and Walt Whit- as a heavier-handed irony. Sarcasm usually man’s poem entitled Dirge for Two Veterans sounds harsh or biting, while irony can be in order to show the misery that is caused by light, comic, and playful (Reaske 35). While the war and to comprehend the viewpoint of some other poems are just impersonal and de- war which is portrayed in each of the poems. tached which automatically arouses certain In line with the objectives of this paper, emotional responses in the readers. the focus of examination will be the poems When writing a poem, there is always a written by Stephen Crane entitled War is Kind theme that is provided by the poets. “Theme and Walt Whitman entitled Dirge for Two Vet- is the central concept developed in a poem. erans. The analysis of this paper will be lim- It is the basic idea which the poet is trying to ited to the properties of the poem. convey and which, accordingly, he allows to In order to achieve the objectives of this direct his imagery” (Reaske 42). One of those paper, the objective approach would be ap- themes is about war. According to Webster’s plied. By using objective approach, a literary Dictionary of the English Language, war is an work should be regarded as autonomous and open armed conflict between nations, states, should not be judged by reference to consid- or between parties in the same state, carried erations beyond itself. on by force or arms for various purposes. In reality, war has caused so many de- Objective criticism regards the work of structions in human’s life. The damage that is art in isolation from all external points of refer- ence, analyzes it as a self-sufficient entity con- caused by war is very devastating. It causes stituted by its parts in their internal relations, massive destructions, makes people suffer and sets out to judge it solely by criteria intrinsic from pain and violence, kills the living things to its own mode of being (Abrams, The Mirror in the area of war, and hurts so many innocent and the Lamp 26). people. Thousands of soldiers may die worth- lessly and citizens may die for unknown rea- This paper uses the library research as sons. War in any era will always cause misery the method of research. There are two types for the people who are intentionally involved of data that are used in this paper which are in the war itself or even worse for the people primary and secondary data. The primary who are accidentally involved in the war. data consists of Stephen Crane’s poem enti- However, despite the fact that war caus- tled War is Kind and Walt Whitman’s poem es destruction and misery to most people, it entitled Dirge for Two Veterans whereas the attracts people to get involved in it. There are secondary data are sources from the internet people who are interested to talk and write that are related to war, especially about Span- ish-American war and American Civil war. To 58 The Misery of War As Seen in Stephen Crane’s War Is Kind and Walt Whitman’s Dirge for Two Veterans be able to comprehend the poems, the basic which is the maiden (in this stanza). This stan- versification, the rhyme scheme, the kind of za is sarcastic about the purposes of war, of language, and other devices of the poem will the victory whose worthiness is still question- be provided. Then the descriptive method is able. The dying soldier who has fallen from applied. It helps the writer to explain the po- his war horse shows the reality of death on the ems descriptively by interpreting each stanza battlefield, while the maiden who is told to be of the poems. tough because of the death of her lover shows the torture and suffers which is felt by those DISCUSSION who are left by their lovers in the battle. A. War is Kind by Stephen Crane The second stanza presents other im- ages and statements about war. The first The subject of misery that is described line of the second stanza, ‘Hoarse, booming in the first stanza is the maiden whose lover drums of the regiment,’ attracts the reader’s has died in the war. The first stanza begins sense of hearing. The phrase booming drums with ‘Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.’ of the regiment shows the vigor of war. The The first line of the stanza gives the ironic word regiment ensures the reader that the war tone of the poem, as it is difficult to imagine which is being talked about here is somehow that war can be kind in any way. This opening great and involves a large number of people. line confirms that tone. It is addressed to the The second line, ‘Little souls who thirst for maiden asking her not to weep because war is fight,’ gives the image of dreadful soldiers. kind somehow. The word little souls emphasize the horrifying The next two lines tell about the lover image of soldiers because here in the poem, who died in the war. ‘Because the lover threw the military soldiers are portrayed as people wild hands toward the sky – and the affrighted who are heartless, while the phrase thirst for steed ran on alone,’ these two lines provide fight shows the atrociousness of the soldiers, the image of a dying soldier.
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