from At the Somme: The Song of the Mud BY MARY BORDEN

Question

This is the song of the mud,
The pale yellow glistening mud that covers the hills like satin;
The grey gleaming silvery mud that is spread like enamel over the valleys;
The frothing, squirting, spurting, liquid mud that gurgles along the road beds;
The thick elastic mud that is kneaded and pounded and squeezed under the hoofs of the
horses;
The invincible, inexhaustible mud of the war zone.
This is the song of the mud, the uniform of the poilu.
His coat is of mud, his great dragging flapping coat, that is too big for him and too heavy; His coat that once was blue and now is grey and stiff with the mud that cakes to it.
This is the mud that clothes him. His trousers and boots are of mud,
And his skin is of mud;
And there is mud in his beard.

His head is crowned with a helmet of mud.
He wears it well.
He wears it as a king wears the ermine that bores him. He has set a new style in clothing;
He has introduced the chic of mud.
This is the song of the mud that wriggles its way into battle.
The impertinent, the intrusive, the ubiquitous, the unwelcome,
The slimy inveterate nuisance,
That fills the trenches,
That mixes in with the food of the soldiers,
That spoils the working of motors and crawls into their secret parts,
That spreads itself over the guns,
That sucks the guns down and holds them fast in its slimy voluminous lips, That has no respect for destruction and muzzles the bursting shells;
And slowly, softly, easily,
Soaks up the fire, the noise; soaks up the energy and the courage;
Soaks up the power of armies;
Soaks up the battle.
Just soaks it up and thus stops it.
This is the hymn of mud - the obscene, the filthy, the putrid,
The vast liquid grave of our armies. It has drowned our men.
Its monstrous distended belly reeks with the undigested dead.
Our men have gone into it, sinking slowly, and struggling and slowly disappearing. Our fine men, our brave, strong, young men;
Our glowing red, shouting, brawny men.
Slowly, inch by inch, they have gone down into it,
Into its darkness, its thickness, its silence.
Slowly, irresistibly, it drew them down, sucked them down,
And they were drowned in thick, bitter, heaving mud.
Now it hides them, Oh, so many of them!
Under its smooth glistening surface it is hiding them blandly.
There is not a trace of them.
There is no mark where they went down.
The mute enormous mouth of the mud has closed over them.

This is the song of the mud,
The beautiful glistening golden mud that covers the hills like satin;
The mysterious gleaming silvery mud that is spread like enamel over the valleys. Mud, the disguise of the war zone;
Mud, the mantle of battles;
Mud, the smooth fluid grave of our soldiers:
This is the song of the mud.
1. In the first stanza, Borden uses many adjectives to describe the mud. List all of the adjectives used in the first stanza below.
2. Which sense is primarily appealed to by these adjectives?
3. What other sense(s) do these details refer to in the first stanza?
4. In the final line of the first stanza, Borden describes the mud as “invincible” and “inexhaustible.” Highlight the sentence that accurately describes this poetic choice.
a. In the first stanza, the poem shifts from concrete language to abstract language.
b. In the first stanza, the poem shifts from abstract language to concrete language.
5. List some of the concrete details in the second stanza.
6. What is the central metaphor and image in the second stanza?

7. The third stanza begins to ascribe a will or intention to the mud. List at least two examples from this stanza where the mud seems to have ill intent.
8. Select one of your quotes and explain whether it is an example of concrete or abstract language. Your response should be written in complete sentences and embed your quote into the grammar of your sentence. (Example: In stanza three, Borden uses the phrase “[insert quote]” to...).
9. Find at least one example of each type of sensory language in the poem. (Taste is challenging, but close readers will notice it.)
10. Borden chose to pack her poem full of concrete detail. What was the purpose? Your response should make a claim about the poem’s overall purpose, then explain how the sensory details help to serve it. Answers must be written in complete sentences.

Answer 1

1. List of adjectives used in the first stanza:

   • pale
   • yellow
   • glistening
   • grey
   • gleaming
   • silvery
   • frothing
   • squirting
   • spurting
   • liquid
   • thick
   • elastic
   • invincible
   • inexhaustible

2. Primarily appealed sense: The adjectives primarily appeal to the sense of sight, as they describe the visual characteristics of the mud.

3. Other senses referred to in the first stanza:

   • Touch: The adjectives such as "thick," "elastic," and descriptions that imply texture suggest a tactile experience.
   • Sound: Words like "gurgles," "squirting," and "spurting" evoke auditory imagery related to the movement of mud.

4. Poetic choice statement:

   • a. In the first stanza, the poem shifts from concrete language to abstract language. (The use of "invincible" and "inexhaustible" moves from the visual, physical descriptions of mud to conveying abstract qualities of endurance and resilience.)

5. Concrete details in the second stanza:

   • "His coat is of mud"
   • "His great dragging flapping coat"
   • "His coat that once was blue"
   • "His trousers and boots are of mud"
   • "And there is mud in his beard."

6. Central metaphor and image in the second stanza: The central metaphor is that the mud serves as the "uniform" of the soldier (poilu), dominating his appearance and identity, symbolizing the loss of individuality and the pervasiveness of war.

7. Examples of mud ascribing will or intention:

   • "That fills the trenches"
   • "That sucks the guns down and holds them fast in its slimy voluminous lips."

8. Quote explanation: In stanza three, Borden uses the phrase "that fills the trenches" to illustrate a concrete detail about the mud's pervasive presence. This phrase describes the physical effect of mud in the landscape, providing a tangible image of how the mud overwhelms the battlefield, thereby emphasizing its insidious nature.

9. Examples of sensory language:

   • Sight: "The pale yellow glistening mud"
   • Touch: "The thick elastic mud"
   • Sound: "That gurgles along the road beds"
   • Taste: "That mixes in with the food of the soldiers" (implying the tainting of their rations).

10. Purpose of Borden's use of concrete detail: Borden’s poem purposefully uses concrete detail to evoke the grim realities of war and evoke empathy for the soldiers. By immersing the reader in vivid sensory experiences, she illustrates not just the physical landscape but also the emotional and psychological burdens placed on the men. The detailed imagery of mud, clothing, and the soldiers’ struggles creates a visceral connection that highlights the overwhelming and dehumanizing conditions of war, thus reinforcing the tragedy of their experience.