Here’s a full analysis of the poem “Distant Fields / ANZAC Parade” by Rhian Gallagher, tailored towards A-Level students, but also suitable for those studying at a higher level.
Includes:
Poem
Vocabulary
Story/Summary
Speaker/Voice
Language features
Structure/Form
Context
Attitudes...
“Medalled, ribboned chests, an effort
carried through them, the war
still going on inside their heads…”
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to copyright restrictions)
VOCABULARY
ANZAC Parade - a yearly parade that takes place in Australia and New Zealand on
ANZAC day (25th April) to commemorate Australian and New Zealand soldiers who
died and fought in all wars.
Medalled - covered in medals (army awards)
Ribboned - covered in ribbons (also army awards)
Roll call - a list of names that are read out aloud, the members of a military unit in a
parade
Footage - film recorded to commemorate an event
Mass - a Catholic Christian ceremony
Bugle - a brass instrument similar to a trumpet, but emitting a low sound
Bird-light zone - the sky, in particular the space in the sky where birds fly
STORY/SUMMARY
The soldiers are lined up and marching on ANZAC Day during the ANZAC parade.
They are covered in medals and ribbons, testaments to their bravery and service in
war. In their heads they are still reliving and repeating their experiences in war, so they
cannot fully enjoy the parade celebrations or appreciate the praise they are receiving as
they gather for the roll call. (Stanza 2) They think back to the fields they fought in,
where flowers were turned into ash (burnt residue from bombs, war and destruction).
They also died, in lines as they battled. (Stanza 3) The parade reminds the speaker of
the footage she has seen of soldiers in war, from a long time ago as it is ‘grainy’ - low
quality compared to modern film. Her father lifts her on his shoulders so she can see
the march, so we know she must be quite young at the time. (Stanza 4) The speaker
sees her uncles in the parade, and we realise that they were soldiers. They look
, straight ahead, seeing the backs of the heads of the soldiers in front, in an orderly row,
all marching in time to the rhythm of the drum. (Stanza 5) At the end of the
procession, which is like a Catholic Mass, a bugle plays a piece of music called ‘The
Last Post’ while everyone watches in silence, and its sound unifies the lives of
everyone at the parade together, it seems as though the lives of those still living and
the souls of the soldiers who died fighting are all present for a moment, and they fly up
into the sky (the bird-light zone).
SPEAKER/VOICE
The speaker seems to be the poet herself, but the poem is told in past tense to
signify that this is a memory from her childhood, a day when her father carried her on
his shoulders so that she could see the ANZAC parade procession of soldiers. The
descriptions are therefore very imagistic - appearing as fragments of sounds or
visual images in order to create the impression of memory.
LANGUAGE
● Adjectives - ‘medalled, ribboned’ - the descriptions of the soldiers is reduced to
a kind of synecdoche - where a part of them represents a whole. In this case,
the medals and ribbons on their chests symbolise their efforts and successes in
battle, as a soldier wins medals and ribbons only when completing a difficult,
brave or noble task that is done in service to others.
● Repetition - ‘Line after line after line’ - the repetition of the words here creates
a sense of the repetitiveness and regularity of the procession, as the soldiers
march past in rows.
● Monosyllabic lexis - Heart-beat drum - the compound adjective ‘heart-beat’
further exemplifies the auditory image of the drum as it beats in a steady
regular rhythm, perhaps two quick beats then one slower as suggested by the
rhythm of the phrase.
● Visual Imagery - ‘a quiet of ash’, ‘flowers’, ‘grainy footage’ - the poem contains a
variety of images that make it feel symbolic - the ash, for instance, represents
the fallen soldiers who gave their lives and the adjective ‘grainy’ both describes
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