Asleep in the Valley (Questions & Answers)

Asleep in the Valley

“And death is sleep – oh, sleep, sleep, sleep, undisturbed sleep!”

_ A defeated soldier in G. B. Shaw’s Arms and the Man

Title:

A title serves its purpose mostly when it represents the content, heightens the theme, extends the purview of meaning, arouses aesthetic sensibilities, and above all, helps one realize the figurative point of view conceived at the core.

“Asleep in the Valley”, being the title of the poem, says somebody is asleep in a valley – the event as well as the scene is thus laid out. The title lays stress on what the poem focuses upon – “Asleep”. The very word “Asleep” assumes wider connotation as the marks of bullet-wounds are mentioned. Besides, “Asleep in the Valley” aesthetically and ironically serves what “Dead in the Valley” could not have. Moreover, the title ironically oozes out the latent pathos that lurks behind the term ‘asleep’ as against the brutal backdrop of war; especially when it is eternalized in the sense of ‘death’. Contrary to the fatal silence and inertness of man, who is represented by the dead soldier, the valley, which symbolizes Nature, is lively, and bountiful in its lush care towards mankind. But the man is lifeless and unable to receive the balm as well as the education.  Since the title of the poem insinuates this irony, it is apt.

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Amidst nature’s plenty, in the scenic beauty of a landscape valley a young soldier lies, apparently being merged (or in sleep) with Nature. He remains there, as if he was an extension of Nature. Nature, in turn, nurses him; however, there is no wound to heal.

The soldier is shot dead. There are marks of two bullets on his body. Even the humming insects cannot awaken him. He becomes identical with Nature.

That the “very young soldier” is a ruthless victim of warfare is presented so calmly in the title, the latent irony evokes the pity of war, the content of the poem; and a sense of helplessness pervades among the readers, as when the poet viewed the untimely form of death in the green valley.

View on War as Reflected in the Poem

A war is a political affair, and warmongers are no soldiers. Young men are engaged as professional soldiers, and they cannot but fight, kill, and get killed. The war ends, following the massacre of young lives; another war looms large in the offing. It yields same results too. A common man, like the poet, feels utterly helpless, sympathizes with the victims, and senses the pity of war. The poem vindicates this.

The poet takes the form of calm irony to protest the practice of indiscriminate warfare. The gravity of the mindless butchery restrains him from being loud and vocal. The poem is a balm that soothes the poet’s hurt self. He resorts to a prayer, “Ah, Nature, keep him warm; he may catch cold.
The humming insects don't disturb his rest”.

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USE OF SYMBOL & IMAGERY

Arthur Rimbaud’s poem Asleep in the Valley shoots a poignant tale of helpless massacre of man in mindless and organized warfare with the deft use of symbolism and imagery. The poet resorts to Nature, and makes an appeal to its bounty. The contrast between Nature (sublime as ‘mountaintop’ or ‘the sun’) and Man (lying low as ‘stretched in the heavy undergrowth’) is symbolic. The images of Nature, which symbolize rejuvenation, flow in - the sun pours out the lightless hollow valley, which symbolically denotes the hollowness of man, with light; “green valley” represents the lively self of Nature, contrary to the sleeping soldier; the “warm” nature is pitted against the soldier’s going to “catch cold”. “The two red holes” is a horrifying image of war, its symbolic aftermath. The all-encompassing pictorial landscape, ironically, deepens the abysmal loss man has incurred onto himself, wherein he is never “at peace”.