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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
Geoffrey Hill's poem "Canaan" offers a haunting meditation on the cyclical nature of violence and the complex interplay between religion, history, and human cruelty. Hill employs vivid, often brutal imagery to depict scenes of war and destruction, invoking biblical allusions and historical references to underscore the themes of conquest and suffering. The poem begins with a depiction of soldiers marching through Flanders, armed with machine-pistols and accompanied by "chorales" and "cannon of obese bronze." The mention of "Flanders" immediately evokes the battlefields of World War I, where countless lives were lost in the muddy trenches. The soldiers are on a divine mission, "to topple Baal," a reference to the ancient Canaanite deity often associated with idolatry in the Hebrew Bible. This suggests a holy war, a crusade against perceived evil. The imagery of "groaning pushcarts" and "corpses and soiled banners of the Lamb" evokes a sense of futility and desecration, as the sun, symbolizing divine judgment, presides over the grim proceedings. The lines "Aloof the blades / of oblation / rise, fall, as though they / were not obstructed / by blades of bone" juxtapose sacrificial rituals with the brutal reality of war, where human bones obstruct the ceremonial blades. In the second section, Hill introduces "Fourier’s children," a reference to the followers of Charles Fourier, a French utopian socialist. The imagery of "kazoos" and "deliquescent manna" conveys a sense of absurdity and decay, as the idealistic dreams of utopian socialism dissolve into the urban sleet, shedding innocent blood. The "ragged fusillade" and "indifferent hatred" suggest a chaotic and meaningless violence, where even the perpetrators are stained with their own works. The "détentes of corpse-gas" and "reactive / furnaces of the spirit" evoke the horrors of chemical warfare and the Holocaust, merging historical atrocities into a single, nightmarish vision. The "immemorial / sightings in Canaan" with "fig trees and planted vines / and the groves unguarded / messuage for jackals" paint a desolate landscape, where once fertile and peaceful lands are now abandoned to scavengers. The final section of the poem returns to the theme of divine retribution with "Moloch his ovens / and the dropped babes naked." Moloch, another ancient deity associated with child sacrifice, symbolizes the ultimate horror of human cruelty. The image of "babes naked / swung by an arm / or a leg like flail" is particularly disturbing, suggesting the indiscriminate slaughter of the most innocent and vulnerable. The mention of trumpets not being sparing and the lack of mercy towards the "sucking child" emphasizes the relentless nature of this violence. Hill's "Canaan" is a powerful exploration of the persistent and pervasive nature of human violence, framed through biblical and historical references. The poem suggests that despite the passage of time, the fundamental aspects of human cruelty and the cycles of violence remain unchanged. The juxtaposition of religious imagery with scenes of war and destruction highlights the moral ambiguity and the often self-righteous justification of violence in the name of a higher cause. Through its dense and evocative language, "Canaan" forces readers to confront the darker aspects of human history and the ongoing struggle for redemption and justice.
| Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BATTLE OF BRITAIN by CECIL DAY LEWIS A SONG OF DEGREES by GEOFFREY HILL CHURCHILL'S FUNERAL by GEOFFREY HILL CONCERNING INHERITANCE by GEOFFREY HILL DARK-LAND (1) by GEOFFREY HILL DARK-LAND (2) by GEOFFREY HILL |
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