'Asleep in the Valley' by Arthur Rimbaud,- an Analytical Discussion

Hello Friends... 

Sure, we all are doing well... Be careful, we must stay fit and shouldn't fall ill and get our studies affected. We shall eat and drink healthy, exercise regularly, and won't avoid our domestic and social responsibilities. And whatever time we get for ourselves at the end of the day, we must study hard for most of the time, so that we learn to think... and learn. We simply cannot afford to stop thinking, for we are learners, and we are the chosen ones who got the scope to learn... 

Let's learn to think first... 

English Translations of the French Poet

Poems by Arthur Rimbaud, the French 'boy poet' has been translated by many into English. Here, we are going to read Asleep in the Valley- a poem by Rimbaud, translated into English by Paul Schmidt. You may go through Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works, translated by him, published by Harper Collins, if you like his way of translation. To get a glimpse of the book, before you rush to visit a library, you may browse the link below: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20505847-arthur-rimbaud

To compare Paul with others translating Rimbaud in English, you can click the following links to see how the same poem that we are going to discuss here has been treated by them: 

http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/poesies/Sleeper.html

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/languagecentre/about/staff/salvador/spart/translations/asleep_in_the_valley.pdf

Those who know French, may visit the following link to get the original flavour of Rimbaud: 

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/asleep-in-the-valley/

Who May Reap Some Benefit from the Discussion

This discussion on 'Asleep in the Valley' is primarily meant for any student studying for the purpose of H. S. Examination [WBCHSE] on her/his own. However, if anybody intends to read and discuss the poem for only pleasure, s/he won't get disappointed. Here, one will get the chance to think independently, and ask questions appropriately while participating in the discussion in order to conclude about the poem on his/her own, as per his/her best abilities. 

Why don't you check it yourself? But before we start our discussion, you should go through the text for at least a couple of times. Either listen to the text [for poems are also meant for listening], or read, or listen and read. Listening carefully to the text will help you to understand the sense groups, and their implications may come out clear from the intonation:

https://poetscorner.blog/2020/04/22/asleep-in-the-valley/

Asleep in the Valley

Arthur Rimbaud

[Translated by Paul Schmidt]

A small green valley where a slow stream flows

And leaves long strands of silver on the bright

Grass; from the mountaintop stream the Sun's

Rays; they fill the hollow full of light.

A soldier, very young, lies open-mouthed,

A pillow made of fern beneath his head,

Asleep; stretched in the heavy undergrowth,

Pale in his warm, green, sun-soaked bed. 

His feet among the flowers, he sleeps. His smile

Is like an infant's - gentle, without guile.

Ah, Nature, keep him warm; he may catch cold.

The humming insects don't disturb his rest;

He sleeps in sunlight, one hand on his breast;

At peace. In his side there are two red holes. 

The Title

Now it's time we should share our thoughts and feelings together. Let us start from the very title of the poem. What does it communicate to you? Does it seem to be like the title of a romantic poem on nature? Or does the title convey something else to you? Alright... we are in no hurry, we will take our own time to study the poem in details first, and then return to the title once again if we feel that it  actually hints to more than it seems apparently. 

It’s time we should read the text intensively before we discuss further.

The First Stanza

A Romantic Setting?

How would you like to react to the first stanza of the poem? 

If you ask me, I must say that the very first stanza of the poem, where Arthur Rimbaud has beautifully composed a picaresque description of a valley illuminated by the broad daylight, reminds me of the keen observation and powerful description of nature by the English romantic poets. Don't you find this description quite similar to theirs? 

The Valley

The valley is small, and it is green with vegetation. From the surrounding mountain, a stream [small river] descends down [comes down] to the valley, and then flows through it slowly. 

The Stream

Why do you think the stream flows slowly through the valley? Yes, it must flow slow now, for the steep gradient/slope of the mountain is no more there, the valley being more or less flat with much gentler a slope.

How is it possible for a mountain stream to leave long strands [thin threads] of silver on the grass?  Do you think the stream passes over some silver ore before it enters the valley where it deposits the silver? 

Well, I know that you have a better explanation. 'Better' in the sense that your explanation is likely to be more probable. Yes, when the bright sunlight gets reflected at its water, the river seems to be a long strand of silver lying on the bed of bright green grass. 

The Position of the Observer

Where do you think the observer stands, so that the river seems to be a long strand of silver down on the valley? Right you are... The observer must be on the mountaintop, looking down at the river on the valley reflecting the bright silvery sunlight.

'Life' in the 'Green' Valley

So, it is a sunny day being described here, and the sunlight seems to flood the whole space with its bright illumination. Wonderful, isn't it? I am sure that you have noted how the water flowing along with the sunlight have turned the valley green. It is a place where life in the form of vegetation thrives at its fullest. Don't you think so? 

The 'Hollow'

Have you noted the word 'hollow'?  Just think of the valley surrounded/protected by mountains on all its sides. Are you reminded of a mother's womb where implanted life can grow to its fullest possibilities? Or do you get haunted by the suggestion of 'emptiness' here?

The Structure of the Sentence

Isn't it surprising that the whole stanza is actually a single sentence? I'm sure you haven't missed the fact:

A small green valley where a slow stream flows

And leaves long strands of silver on the bright

Grass; from the mountaintop stream the Sun's

Rays; they fill the hollow full of light.

Here, we have the valley referred to twice in the stanza, once at the very beginning ['A small green valley'], and then once again at the last line ['the hollow']. Does the valley seem to be very important a factor to note down? 

Do you find the structure of the sentence a bit difficult? Maybe it's so because it's a translation from French, and not written originally in English. If you've already checked the other English translations of the same poem, you must have noticed how the other translators have chosen to express the same content in other ways. Haven't you felt some to be more 'English' in essence, and the others not so much like 'English'? This is an important aspect of translation-work that we may discuss some other day, if you feel interested. Right now, we should rather get engaged in understanding the structure of the sentence. 

A sentence so long must have multiple clauses. Don't you think so?

How many clauses do we have in the sentence? Let's look for the finite verb phrases first, shall we?

What finite verb phrases [verb phrases marked with 'tense'] have we got here?

'flows', 'leaves', 'stream', and 'fill'. -Have you got them all correct? 

Maybe, some among you got confused about 'stream', right? Now, we must remember, 'stream' is such a word that has the same form irrespective of whether it functions as a noun, or as a verb. We have many such words in English. For instance, we may discuss the word 'exercise' which can function both as a noun, and as a verb.

Exercise is essential to stay healthy. Here, 'Exercise' is a noun, functioning as the subject to the verb phrase 'is'.

I exercise regularly to stay healthy. Here, 'exercise' is a verb, as you do see it.

Would you mind making a list of such words that you already know and use frequently?

Here in this stanza, we have the word 'stream' occurring twice. Why don't you try to find out how these two words are functioning in this stanza? If the word is a noun, it has to function either as the subject or object to a verb, or preposition. And if it is a verb, it requires a subject at least, right? Go ahead, and give it a try...

Shall we now get back to the four verb phrases that we have already identified earlier from the sentence? 

We have the third person, singular subject marker '-s' at the end of two verbs ['flows' and 'leaves'], and the rest ['stream', and 'fill'] are without them. What is the implication?

 

Yes, those verbs that end with the third person singular subject marker must have third person singular subjects. 

Now, this deduction should help us to identify the subjects to these verbs.

 

'flows'- What does flow?- A slow stream flows. So, the subject to the verb phrase 'flows' is 'a slow stream'. We know that in active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb.

'leaves'- What does perform the action of leaving (something)? Again, it is the slow stream referred to earlier. So, both these two verb phrases have the common subject 'a slow stream'.

Now I think we have identified the structure of the first clause: 

'a slow stream' [common subject to both the verb phrases that follow] + 'flows' [intransitive verb phrase that requires no 'object'] + 'and' [conjunct] + 'leaves' [transitive verb phrase that requires an object at least to get the meaning complete] + 'long strands of silver' [object to the transitive verb phrase 'leaves'] + 'on the bright grass' [additional remaining part/adjunct: adverbial phrase referring to place]

What type of sentence is this clause? Simple, Compound, or Complex? Obviously, it is a compound sentence. We have already identified the conjunct in the sentence, haven't we? You can easily split this clause into two simple ones, right? Why don't you give it a try?

Let's now try to identify the subject of the verb 'stream'. Yes, we have already identified the 'stream' occurring first in the stanza as a noun functioning as the subject to the verb phrases 'flows' and 'leaves'. So, the verb 'stream' must be the second one. 

The question we need to ask is who 'stream', or flow?- The Sun's rays 'stream'/flow. The Sun's rays 'stream' from the mountain top. Have you realised that this clause is actually inverted structurally, as it begins with the adverbial instead of the usual subject as is the convention?-

from the mountaintop [adjunct: adverbial phrase referring to place] + stream [intransitive verb and hence requires no object] + the Sun's rays [third person plural subject to the verb phrase (Do you now understand why the verb in this clause doesn't end with the third person singular marker)]

We have one more verb phrase left: 'fill'

Isn't the clause with this verb phrase easy to identify and analyse now? Yes, to be sure...

they [third person plural subject to the verb phrase] + fill [transitive verb] + the hollow [object to the transitive verb phrase 'fill', as it answers the question 'what do they fill'] + full of light [adjunct: adverbial phrase referring to the manner how the hollow was filled]

So, now we have got four simple clauses/sentences with four finite verb phrases. How are they linked together?

The first two are linked/joined together with the conjunct 'and'. The third and fourth are independent,  but separated/connected from/to the others with semicolons. But how do we link the phrase 'A small green valley' in the beginning with the rest of the long sentence that constitute all these four simple clauses? That's why we have the linker 'where' following the phrase. Here, in this stanza, the speaker tells us about a small green valley. Then the speaker attempts to add further to the description: [It is] a small green valley [main clause] where a slow stream flows and leaves long strands of silver on the bright grass [subordinate clause]. In the poem, however, we have the introductory subject 'it' and the verb 'is' from the main clause omitted/dropped. And that has made the structure of the sentence a bit difficult apparently. I am sure that now you find the structure of the whole sentence/stanza easier than before. Don't you?

Would you like to count how many clauses we actually have in the stanza before you go further?

The Second Stanza

The Soldier

A sharp shock lies ahead as we start reading the very first line of the second stanza. We find a soldier there in the valley. We hardly expect a soldier in such a romantic setting. Do we? 

However, note how the poet resumes describing the beauty of the valley after the first line of the stanza again. Don't you feel the soldier to be one of the organic elements of nature being described as you now read the second and third lines of the stanza?

Our Feelings for the Soldier

Have you developed any particular feeling towards this soldier by now? 

As I find him very young, lying asleep open-mouthed, my heart begins to soften for him at this point. I know that he is not an experienced soldier or a brutal killing machine deployed by war-monger states as he is very young, and hence, my compassion starts to develop for him. Do you feel the same way? I would like to hear if you feel different...

A Closer Look at the Valley

The poet continues his description of the valley the second line onward here in this stanza. He describes the pillow made of fern beneath the head of the soldier, and his warm, green, sun-soaked bed. Don't you find that the observer has come closer or has zoomed into the scene, and is no more away on the mountaintop?

The 'Pale' Soldier

How do you feel about the word 'pale' in the fourth line of the stanza, by the way? Does the use of the word ‘pale’ to describe the asleep soldier at the end of the stanza arouse sympathy towards the sleeping youth, if not our apprehension of something very ominous?

The Frequent Punctuation

Have you noted how frequently the poet has used punctuation [mostly commas] almost after each and every sense-group [meaningful word/phrase] in this stanza? Why do you feel he wants us to pause so frequently in between his words and phrases? Does it help you to visualise the setting he describes in any way?

The Third Stanza

The Sleeping Soldier

The third stanza comes with a relief. Doesn't it? We now find the soldier asleep, resting his feet among the flowers. His gentle, infant-like smile touches our heart, and we too find ourselves making the wish of the poet stronger that may Nature keep him warm, away from cold. Don't we? This is how successful authors [a poet here] bond with their readers. They feel the same way, together...

Have we got the romantic essence of the poem restored back again?

The Explanatory Sentences [Do you like the way I have named them?]

We have three sentences here in these stanza. Do you find any similarity of pattern among them?

Yes, they all present a theme/proposition at the first section, and then elaborate/explain/add to them in the next section:

His feet among the flowers [the theme], he sleeps [the elaboration]. 

His smile/ Is like an infant's [the theme]- gentle [the elaboration], without guile [further elaboration].

Ah, Nature, keep him warm [the proposition]; he may catch cold [the elaboration].

Don't you feel this pattern helps us to visualise the setting in details? Do you feel this involvement makes us more compassionate about the soldier, as we get to look at him more and more closely?

The Fourth Stanza

Our Prayer for the Soldier

Our prayer for this soldier continues in the final stanza too. [Have you noted how these stanzas are  all connected with the previous ones through similarities and contrast of thoughts? This is how we organise our arguments linking every element together neatly.] The poet prays so that the humming insects do not awaken the sleeping soldier. Don't we also pray along? The sunlight has kept him warm in his sleep. He sleeps at peace with one hand on his breast. And don't we all want him to get the chance of sleeping peacefully as long he needs now?

The Shock And the Irony

Doesn't the shock [don't you think we are given some clues earlier in the poem though?] from the last sentence stun us as we now know that the soldier is dead? In his side, there are two red holes, probably caused by bullets in the battlefield. [Let me know if you have any other explanation for these two holes.] He is at peace now, but at the cost of his life. Have you noted the irony in the poet's reference to ‘peace' in the last line of the poem?

The Bitter Satire

Don't you feel the romantic setting of the poem turns out to be satirical at the hint that we have turned each and every bit of this planet into a battlefield. To be sure, we now understand that the image of the valley does not stand here to represent flourishing opportunities, but devastation and waste. A lively youth, simple and innocent like an infant, has embraced death to point out the fact what we have brought unto us with this warfare. 

The Soldier-poet

Arthur, as he had served as a commissioned soldier in war fronts, had tasted the bitter truth about warfare. The huge waste that is produced during war had certainly touched the sensitive mind of the poet. As an angry youth of a critical time, and yet sensible, his voice of protest rings very subtly through our ears. He has told so less, yet his voice rings continually through our ears. 

The Structure of the Poem

What is the structure of this poem? Yes, we have four stanzas, the first two are four-lined and the last two are three-lined. So we have a total of fourteen lines...

Yes, this is a sonnet, where the octave is further divided into two quatrains [four-lined stanzas] and the sestet is divided further into two three-lined stanzas.

The Argument

The poet has chosen the structure of a sonnet here to put his argumentation against the cruelty of war. Very skillfully, he has described a valley in quite a romantic manner in the first quatrain, has continued the description of the beauty of the valley in the second quatrain along with the introduction of a young soldier, sleeping open-mouthed. We find him very innocent with his guile-less smile in the third stanza [the first part of the sestet] and the sympathetic poet wishing the Nature to keep him warm. The ultimate stanza [the second part of the sestet] reveals the true intention of the poet, when he intimates us about the two red holes in his body. The poem instantly turns away from its preceding mood. We sit silent brooding over the fact how the beauty of nature [symbolised by the valley] and life [symbolised by the innocent smile of the soldier] which we could have enjoyed in our serene times, have been destroyed in the turbulence of warfare. 

Anti-war Message

The poet’s anti-war stance is clear in his ironical use of the suggestions that enriches the poem throughout its length. We find the poet praying so that the Nature may keep the soldier warm, whereas, he intends us to hit upon the fact that we bring upon this unnatural act of warfare that turns the warmth of our hearts cold as humanity is forgotten in war. He makes a wish that the humming insects may not awaken the sleeping soldier. But at the end, it turns out to be an irony as even canon booms are not likely to awaken the soldier, for he is already dead. Such is the brutality of warfare, where innocent youths lay strewn in valleys where they could have thrived. 

Back to The Title Once Again

I am quite sure that now you know that the title of the poem is actually ironical as the soldier is not asleep, but dead.

Or, would you like to point out that it is not the young soldier who is sleeping there in the valley, but the rest of the mankind, who could have stopped this warfare continuing since time immemorial, only if they were awake enough to have their senses alive?

The Poet And His Time

Have you now found your answers to the questions which started our discussion? Still, it is important to know a few facts about the poet, which may help you to understand and appreciate his works better. If you care to learn, you may at least read the article on Arthur Rimbaud on Britannica: 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Rimbaud

Feel free to ask me questions, if you have any, in the space meant for publishing comments. And you are certainly welcome to share your views which are different from mine. An academic argument is always the best way to learn...

Post-reading Activities:

Before you go through the model answers to the questions from the H. S. Examination, 2020, you may hit the link below to participate in an interactive quiz to check your understanding of the poem. Here, you will be evaluated instantly at the end of the quiz with points you score for each of your correct answers:

Score your understanding of the poem:

Model Answers to the Questions from the H. S. Examination, 2020

1. Complete each of the following sentences, choosing the correct option from the alternatives provided. [Each question carries 1 mark]

i. The words 'red holes' mean

a. spots of blood clots

b. red flowers in the valley

c. bullet wounds

d. none of these

[H.S. 2020] 

Answer Key:

i. c.

2. Answer the following questions, each in a complete sentence. [Each question carries 1 mark]

i. Where are the feet of the soldier placed? [H.S. 2020]

ii. What is the soldier's smile compared to? [H.S. 2020] 

Model Answers:

i. The feet of the soldier are placed among the flowers of the valley.

ii. The soldier's smile is compared to an infant's smile.

3. Answer the following questions, each in about 100 words. [Each question carry a total of six marks]

i. 'The humming insects don't disturb his rest.' -Who rests and where? Why is his rest not disturbed by the insects?    [1+2+3] [H.S. 2020]

Model Answers:

i. A young soldier rests.

    He rests in a small, warm, sun-soaked green valley growing pillow-like fern, thick undergrowth and flowers. The valley is watered by a small stream that makes it so promising for life to thrive.

    His rest is not disturbed by the insects. In fact nothing on earth can disturb him anymore because he is already dead. He could have thrived in that small green valley that seems to be so promising with life. But he lies dead there in that valley, and every opportunity of living seems now to be meaningless. This untimely death of the young man certainly points out the waste wars produce. [Word count: 108]