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[Read about metaphors of war in peacetime in the context of the Post-War Period.]
The imagery of war is current throughout many cultural experiences, even those generally associated with pacifism: Christian soldiers fight the good fight; lovers are wounded by arrows of desire and, in the natural world, the trappings and terminology or war have been a useful vehicle in descriptive narratives of peaceful settings. Here are some examples from the set of essays The spring of joy by Mary Webb:-
The sere and broken reeds and rushes--golden and russet--are like the piled trophies of some fairy warfare; spear and sword and bulrush-banner recall the time when conquering summer led forth his legions.
The spring of joy by Mary Webb. The beauty of colour.
There the queen bee with her strange, low piping--a mere breath of sound, but stirring the same frenzy as bagpipes played softly before a battle...
The spring of joy by Mary Webb. Laughter.
Or an armourer, looking idly at the lathyrus stipules, may have gained from them the idea for a new kind of spear. Earlier still, a British boy plucking woad may have chipped an arrow-head in imitation of it. In the hot silence of the broken walls the saxifrage cup was as redolent of Rome as the glass urn that was found buried there; the lathyrus leaves, like spears and swords among the scarlet banners of the poppies, recalled the glory of cohort and legion.
The spring of joy by Mary Webb. The beauty of form.
Cloud-shadows on a plain are inexpressibly alluring. Some are like a mere breath on a mirror; others are dark and ominous, passing into the distance only to be replaced by fresh phalanxes, as though some conquering army had gone forth.
The spring of joy by Mary Webb. The beauty of shadow.
The most living things in the place are the leaves; with their scurrying feet and their complaining, whispering voices, they are like an elfin nation, a lost tribe, a defeated army that has forgotten discipline. The sight and the sound of this world-old conflict brings the same strong exhilaration as music does, when it quickens and deepens to a climax.
The spring of joy by Mary Webb. The joy of motion.
William Hutton made the following humourous observations:-
From bad to worse our couple stray,
And throw a battle in our way,
With which our placid page is fill'd,
Although in fighting little skill'd.
Like French and English, war begin,
Simply to try which side can win;
And, just like them, they to their cost
Ne'er reckon what by war is lost.
The true lover's knot by William Hutton
In Battlefield treasure by F. Bayfield Harrison, a preacher, uses the war metaphor to illustrate his point:-
The young clergyman took for his text: "So fight I, not as one that beateth the air."--l Cor. ix. 26. Jack always found it difficult to listen to the whole of a sermon, but he heard a good deal that was said this day; for the preacher began by talking of that famous battle; of Henry the king, of Henry Prince of Wales, of Percy Hotspur, of Douglas, of Glendower. After telling the story of the battle he went on to say that there are similar battles fought every day. "There come on the ground King Henries, usurpers, occupying thrones to which they have no right; Prince Henries who have wasted their time and strength in folly when they should have done good work with them; Hotspurs, proud and passionate, rushing to destruction for want of prudence; Douglases, always mistaken, always losing like the tine-man, as the Scotch people called the Douglas of Shrewsbury field; Owen Glendowers, full of superstition, fearful of men because not trustful of God. These commanders and the forces under them are ever meeting and fighting; fleeing from the shock, falling beneath it; losing, winning--defeat and victory meeting them daily on other battlefields than this--on the battlefields of human experience--of the human heart.
Battlefield treasure by F. Bayfield Harrison
[Read about metaphors of war in peacetime in the context of the Post-War Period.]
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Page created 10 August 2004 and last updated
21 August 2004
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