A Brave And Startling Truth

The poem begins with the first-person pronoun “We” (Line 1), which creates a tone of unity and solidarity between the speaker and the reader. The opening lines establish the idea that our Earth is insubstantial and irrelevant in the grand scheme of the universe. The world is described as “lonely” (Line 1), while the celestial bodies are “aloof” and “indifferent” (Line 3)—imagery that enhances the feeling of a grand empty space around the planet. However, this isolation also reminds the reader that we, humanity, are all we have. The first stanza closes with the poem’s title, “A brave and startling truth” (Line 6), essentially creating a thesis statement on which the rest of the poem is built.

The second and third stanzas juxtapose peace and warfare to illustrate why the poem’s core message is so important. While the descriptions of war are suitably horrific, there is an underlying theme of equality throughout these experiences: “[O]ur unique and particular sons and daughters […] lie in identical plots in foreign soil” (Lines 16, 18). This highlights the futility of war, and the idea that both victors and victims eventually succumb to the same human mortality. From these depths of suffering, the speaker segues to the hope of a more optimistic future: “the good, clean breeze” (Line 23); “flags of truce” (Line 26); and “evenings of peace” (Line 28). These are peppered into the battlefield scenes like seeds planted in a garden. A notable phrase in this section is “land mines of death” (Line 27), which has a double meaning. Initially, the description appears redundant—all land mines carry death, so the adjective seems unnecessary. Read another way, however, it can refer to an area of land where death is “mined” as though it was a precious raw material.

Eventually, the poem turns its attention away from war and toward natural beauty: the “wonders of the world” (Line 47). Although color is only directly referenced once (the Danube’s “blue soul” [Line 42]), there is the overall impression of riotous color in the flowering gardens, sunsets, and rivers the poem mentions. This creates a contrast to the bleak and gray imagery of war. The speaker suggests that through compassion and unity, humanity can embody this life-bringing color within themselves.

The eighth stanza refocuses on human identity. The refrains of “When we come to it” (Line 48) and “We, this people” (Lines 49, 52) function almost like a marching drum beat, urging the reader toward action. This section explores the strengths and weaknesses of human beings, and their extraordinary capacity for both cruelty and care. The speaker juxtaposes “the bomb, the blade and the dagger” (Line 50) with “tokens of peace” (Line 51), harsh words with uplifting music, and violent action with the ability to heal with “irresistible tenderness” (Line 62). The speaker calls this “such chaos, […] such contradiction” (Line 65) to encapsulate the messiness and vulnerability of the human condition. Rather than a weakness or something to be overcome, this vulnerability is where we find our strength.

The closing stanzas express their hope for the reader, and, by extension, the planet as a whole. Humanity has the ability to create a world where everyone can live without fear, but this future can only be attained by transcending the anger and hatred that has led nations for so long, and embodying our ultimate potential.