War Is Not Natural

   
     A common theme found in two of the war poems we discussed is that war is not a natural thing; both "First Snow in Alsace" and "The Naming of the Parts" juxtaposed the horror of war with the beauty and presence of nature to illustrate this theme.
     "First Snow in Alsace" describes nightfall in a desolated town, which is suddenly blanketed serenely by the first fall of snow. These two contrasting images, the destruction of war and the beauty of nature, each contradict the presence of the other, hinting to the audience that one does not belong. Obviously, nature, the most natural thing, belongs in the world, thus inviting the conclusion that perhaps war does not.
     "The Naming of the Parts" juxtaposes nature and war in a more blurred yet disturbing way. The speaker, or perhaps speakers, inserts observations about the nature surrounding him or her between an enumeration of the parts of a deadly weapon. It is disturbing that there is no clear transition between descriptions of nature and war; on multiple occasions, the writer even switches between descriptions of the two on the same line. This syntax strikes the reader as unusual, that war and nature be lumped together, again asserting that war is not a natural thing.