What Were They Like? Warfare Quotes

There's no room for laughter during war. The people have been left bitter by the fires and bombs of the conflict. Levertov uses some pretty stark imagery to remind the first speaker that war leaves destruction in its wake. And that's no laughing matter.

After being asked if the people of Vietnam used bone and other fine materials for ornament, the second speaker again reminds the reader of the realities of warfare involving bombs. It leaves few remnants and destroys everything, from the ornaments of fine living to the people who used them.

This is the first mention of an actual implement of war: a bomb. It places the poem into context. It had to have occurred in an era when explosive weapons large enough to destroy a whole country were used. It modernizes a poem that has, up until now, relied on images that could take place in any century.