Tenative Draft

Overall, my introduction is mainly just a thesis. I have yet to expand the introduction so that it can draw in the reader. However, the arguments are for the most part complete.

Introduction

I analyzed “First Fight then Fiddle” and “Casabianca”. Both poems focus on the theme of war and fighting. And while both poems in part provide a critique of war, “First Fight then Fiddle” more effectively addresses the issue by providing a message of hope and a positive solution to strife through music. In contrast, Casabianca offers no such hope and even seems to suggest a path towards glory through heroic self-sacrifice in an unavoidable war.

Arguments

In the opening octet of “First Fight then Fiddle”, the distinction between music and fighting is initially blurred. The phrase “Muzzle the note” combines music and gun terminology to describe a type of war-music. Likewise, “Bewitch, bewilder” portray aggression. The author suggests that such fighting music leads to pain with the phrase “hurting love”. This is not unlike “Casabianca” which also focuses on the negative consequences of fighting. In this poem, the destruction of war, symbolized by the fire, is more explicitly made clear. Descriptions of the fire, which “wrapt the ship in splendour wild,” portray the consuming ferocity of war. Also, the line, “fragments strewed the sea,” portrays war’s ultimate destructiveness in a gritty way as those fragments could be young Casabianca as well as the ship. Although “Casabianca” has more explicit negative imagery of fighting, such imagery alone is not enough to make an effective anti-war message. Rather a good critique should offer a solution and a message of hope.

“First Fight then Fiddle” offers a new type of music as a solution to war. As the reader continues along the first octet, the descriptions of music become softer and more separated from war terminology. The line “Devote The bow to silk and honey,” portrays music in softer, sweater terms. The following line, “Be remote A while from malice and from murdering,” shows that such kinder music can actually lead away from fighting. Clearly, the author is trying to steer the reader away from war music and the idea that music is a legitimate reason for war. However, by using music as the solution, the author allows the reader to replace the desire to fight war with a desire for peace through something beautiful. This message is further elaborated in the volta, which starts in last two lines of the poem. Most of the sestet is about fighting, which is in stark contrast with the lines “For having first to civilize a space Wherein to play your violin with grace.” Here, the author offers a message of hope by suggesting that the pattern of war for the sake of music can be broken. This break is paralleled by the author’s literal break of the fighting in the last 2 lines of the sestet as well as the change in the usual line 9 positioning of the volta to the 12th line. In the end, the musical solution is highly effective not only because of the hopeful message but also because the author takes the device (music) that was previously a warlike justification of fighting and turns it into a cause of peace. Such a message allows the reader to keep loving music and use it for peace.

On the other hand, “Casabianca” offers no such resolution and even ruins the critique by presenting noble imagery of war. First off, the poem ends on a very downbeat note with the fragments of Casabianca and the ship strewn in the sea. The reader can only come out with the idea that war is bad, something that the reader should already know. Without a solution, the reader might just accept war as an unsolvable situation. Furthermore, the reader will likely find a false message in the glorification of Casabianca. The young boy is described as “beautiful and Bright” and as “A creature of heroic blood”. His beauty if further enhanced by the image of “his waving hair.” At the same time, the fire illuminates the boy for the reader to visualize his beauty and bravery. Furthermore, the “wreathing fires” suggests a memorial for the boy. As mentioned earlier, fire is a symbol for war. Thus, war has allowed Casabianca to be glorified and immortalized at the cost of his life. The alternative scenario implies that escaping war to preserve life is unworthy of mention. Had the boy simply decided to abandon his post, there would be no glory, memorial, or elegy. He would have simply been forgotten along with the other sailors who fled. The glorification of Casabianca’s beauty and bravery in combination with the lack of a solution to war could cause the reader to latch onto the dangerous message that war is unavoidable and that death at the hands of war is noble. Such reasoning will only propel further people to die gloriously in war instead of trying to replace strife with something more positive.