O What Is That Sound
O what is that sound which so thrills the ear
Down in the valley drumming, drumming?
Only the scarlet soldiers, dear,
The soldiers coming.
O what is that light I see flashing so clear
Over the distance brightly, brightly?
Only the sun on their weapons, dear,
As they step lightly.
O what are they doing with all that gear,
What are they doing this morning, this morning?
Only their usual manoeuvres, dear.
Or perhaps a warning.
O why have they left the road down there,
Why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?
Perhaps a change in their orders, dear.
Why are you kneeling?
O haven't they stopped for the doctor's care,
Haven't they reined their horses, their horses?
Why, they are none of them wounded, dear.
None of these forces.
O is it the parson they want, with white hair,
Is it the parson, is it, is it?
No, they are passing his gateway, dear,
Without a visit.
O it must be the farmer who lives so near.
It must be the farmer so cunning, so cunning?
They have passed the farmyard already, dear,
And now they are running.
O where are you going? Stay with me here!
Were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?
No, I promised to love you, dear,
But I must be leaving.
O it's broken the lock and splintered the door,
O it's the gate where they're turning, turning;
Their boots are heavy on the floor
And their eyes are burning.
Commentary
If I’ve never run an Auden poem before, it’s merely because I’ve only recently started reading him to any great extent. And I have to agree with Thomas’s opinion - he’s not always good, but when he’s good, he’s very good indeed. Today’s poem is one of my favourites - the first Auden poem I ever read, and one of the very few that has stuck with me.
The most immediately striking thing about the poem is the repetition. Combined with the strong, almost singsong metre, it gives the poem a ‘nursery rhyme’ effect strongly at variance with the increasingly chilling atmosphere, in a manner that merely reinforces the latter. Seldom has the dissonant interplay of form and content been handled so well or so effectively.
Some more on form - as has been remarked before, poetry differs from prose in the extreme care that has to be taken over word choice. This is especially true for the rhymed words, which are thrown into emphasis by the structure of the poem. Now this is not always a restriction that poets feel compelled to follow, but when a word is repeated as well, a careless selection could ruin the poem. Today’s poem is crafted beautifully in that respect - in almost every case1 the repetition works so well as to seem the natural way to phrase things2 (this also goes a long way towards making the poem memorable).
As for the background, Seamus Cooney refers to it as ‘fear of contemporary 1930s totalitarianism’. I’m not too sure what that refers to - if anyone has any further information do write in.
Links
Biography at poem #50
Criticism of Auden at poem #68
And don’t miss all the other Auden poems we’ve run, at The Wondering Minstrels
— Martin
Show 16 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Gianfranco Zuccolo · 16 March 2000
In the poem you have proposed today, not only the incremental repetition, which you remarked, but also the ballad metre (four line stanzas with four beats in each line, occasionally three in the pair lines), the final emotional climax, the dialogic structure are reminiscent of several medieval compositions, (for instance the anonymous poems “Lord Randal” or “Edward Edward”). To me the choice of this poetic form contributes to making the theme of the poem universal, so that, the poet suggests that this experience has been made by numberless people, without modifying its sense of useless and unmotivated tragedy.
I agree that it is a great poem
CRISTINA
Lucy Kemnitzer · 18 October 2002
This is just a remark on the comment that the poem seems to be about 30s totalitarianism, which you said you weren’t sure about. It certainly seems to me – from the little I know about Auden – that he’s writing about soldiers coming for dissidents. It bothers me, though, because it seems as if the poem would be stronger if it were stronger: if there was a sense about the person who is speaking at the end. As it is, the fact that they’re coming for him is just sort of a random event.
viv.williams · 3 November 2002
This poem was actually written in October 1932 and I think is about communism and unstoppable forces as they gather momentum. Although I do agree that it is somewhat to do with deception on the part of the partner who is leaving who I also assumed to be the man.
Joseph Jen · 8 November 2002
I think it is shit
Jamie Crowe · 14 November 2002
While researching info on this poem i came across this page, and i dont know if my comments are still relevent, and while i agree that ‘yes’ superficially this poem is about soldiers coming to get the construct, the voice of the poem, i also belive that Auden is potraying deception. It is clearly noted that two voices are present in this poem, and i believe the second to be that of a wife, reasuring the husband against the ominous images that Auden builds up, the repetition of the language, and the suspicious calmness present in the second voice. Also it is noted in that ‘No, I promised to love you, dear,
But I must be leaving’, the second speaker has an eerily calm coolness. while this poem may show some sort of image from possibly france in 1942, under German oppression, the message may be of a more fundamental nature, of the betrayal of a wife.
TINDALEPOOLE2 · 26 February 2003
In respose to the ‘scarlet soldiers’, I think that what he is trying to convey is the fear at this time of a Communist revolution. The content of this poem makes it Universal, because people all over Europe were fearing a second world war which many believed would be caused by a worldwide spread of Communism. In response to 1930s totalitarianism; remember Hitler came to power in 1933 and there were also many other aggressive political leaders around who were a threat to International peace, for example Benito Mussolini. But I don’t agree with the person who suggestest this; I do not believe that Auden had some sort of wacky preminition!
by Harriet, 2003
cmjmarshall · 24 March 2003
given that the poem was written in 1936, at the time of the Spanish Civil War, and that Auden was of the political left, it seems most likely that it referred to the rise of fascism; a much greater concern than communism to the european intelligentsia at the time. Charles Marshall
Georgia Walters-Helps · 6 May 2003
It’s interesting to note that Mr Crow assumes it is the wife reassuring a husband, not vice versa. Auden makes no suggestion as to which is which!
Justus Drake · 19 May 2003
Hey Lucy, I found your string in Caesarian and felt similar. Hope you are the same Lucy with Bro David and grew up in El Sobrante. Hope you are well, Justus Drake.
Kate · 9 January 2004
I agree that the poem deals with Auden’s fear at the rise of totalitariansim. I am not sure if my interpretation of the poem is even valid, but here it is any way!
The nursery-rhyme tone and the childlike questioning, juxtaposed with the calm, reassuring responses causes the 2nd voice to become a symbol of the authorities of the modern world. The effect of juxtaposition emphasises how overly-complacent and evidently blind to the rising threat those in power are. In this way, the poem becomes an outlet for Auden’s anger at the way in which the authorities sat back and allowed totalitarianism to ascend without obstruction. The abandonment of the 1st speaker, representative of the common man, gradually becoming aware of this threat, indicates Auden’s deep seated hostility to the political authorities of the world, who he feels offer him (or anyone else for that matter) no security or safety whatsover.
Salvador Oliva · 13 July 2004
Very interesting comments about the poem. I think the poem does not refer necessarily to anything in particular. It has more value if we do not relate it to any precise kind of political force. The fact that different readers can apply it to different things makes te poem greater. It can also be read, for instance, as if the soldiers were merely a personification of death. We see in a good poem the hidden life that lives in the shadowy regions of our mind. Some said “I think it is shit”. If it is possible to say that it is beacuse the poem is a mirror. But it is not shit for lots of other people. It’s a very beautiful, intelligent and haunting poem.
Philip Corbin · 24 August 2004
The poem is about a woman who has been betrayed by her lover. He lies to her until the very end, when he walks away without any further words as the soldiers break down the door to come for the woman. It is an immensely sad, and brilliant, poem, about deception.
J M · 5 January 2006
I’m not really into poems, but since I’m doing this project at school I came across this site and decided to leave a little somethin.
The poem indeed is very interesting.
The repititions deffinitely add some punch.
I would just like to add some comments about the eighth stanza. Based on that stanza, one could say that this poem was about romance as well as it being political.
It seems to me that there are two people conversing.
Voice:
O where are you going? Stay with me here!
Were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?
Second person:
No, I promised to love you, dear,
But I must be leaving.
If you look back, the voice of the poem is speaking with the second person, naming them ‘dear.’
Only the scarlet soldiers, dear
…
Only the sun on their weapons, dear
…
Perhaps a change in their orders, dear
etc.
Also, notice when the second person said “No, I promised to love you, dear,” there’s a coma after you. So it’s not saying to love the person dearly.
Alma Gardner · 22 January 2006
Have you seen the film “cold Mountain”? This seems to me to fit perfectly into that period and that war.The poem has to be a hunted man talking to a woman-the timbre of the voices, the man’s urge to protect the speaker who while afraid, dare not say how she guesses the man is the prey for whom the soldiers with burning eyes come hunting.
Alma Gardner
StephFinc · 24 May 2006
having studied the poem for a level, i feel that it shows strong signs of a ballad metre. the ‘o’ could be a connotation for the continuence and monotomy of war.
Georgia WH · 22 February 2008
If possible please remove the comment made by myself at the end of this poem.
Many thanks
Georgia Walters-Helps