Dirge of the Dead Sisters

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Dirge of the Dead Sisters

• (For the nurses who died in the South Africa War)

2
Historical context
Not everybody who died during the war died from
gunshots. A large proportion of Boer War
casualties were caused by disease rather than in
battle. It wasnt just men who died but many of
the voluntary nurses who were there to help.
Kipling, was a famous poet and novelist, who went
to the war as a reporter. He described those
nurses who died as little wasted bodies.

• The Boer War 1899-1902
• It began as a struggle between the British and
  Dutch Boer settlers in South Africa for control
  of diamonds and gold. The British eventually won
  after they adopted a scorched earth policy,
  whereby farms were burned and women and children
  were rounded up in concentration camps.

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Inspiration
Florence Nightingales work in the Crimean War
inspired generations of nurses volunteering for
war service

• She is a ministering angel without any
  exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her
  slender form glides quietly along each corridor,
  every poor fellow's face softens with gratitude
  at the sight of her. When all the medical
  officers have retired for the night and silence
  and darkness have settled down upon those miles
  of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone,
  with a little lamp in her hand, making her
  solitary rounds.

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Story of the (whole) poem

• The poet asks the soldiers (and all of us) to
  remember the voluntary nurses who worked so hard
  to heal the sick and tend to the dying. Twice as
  many died in the war from Typhoid fever as died
  in battle. The town of Uitvlugt was hit by the
  plague in 1901/2. The poet tells how the nurses
  worked so hard that many themselves fell sick and
  died from the disease. Their little wasted
  bodies were light to lower down into the
  makeshift graves.

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The whole poem

• WHO recalls the twilight and the rangèd tents in
  order (Violet peaks uplifted through the crystal
  evening air?)And the clink of iron teacups and
  the piteous, noble laughter, And the faces of
  the Sisters with the dust upon their hair? (Now
  and not hereafter, while the breath is in our
  nostrils, Now and not hereafter, ere the meaner
  years go byLet us now remember many honourable
  women, Such as bade us turn again when we were
  like to die.) Who recalls the morning and the
  thunder through the foothills (Tufts of fleecy
  shrapnel strung along the empty plains?)And the
  sun-scarred Red-Cross coaches creeping guarded to
  the culvert, And the faces of the Sisters
  looking gravely from the trains? (When the days
  were torment and the nights were clouded terror,
  When the Powers of Darkness had dominion on our
  soulWhen we fled consuming through the Seven
  Hells of Fever, These put out their hands to us
  and healed and made us whole.) Who recalls the
  midnight by the bridges wrecked abutment
  (Autumn rain that rattled like a Maxim on the
  tin?)And the lightning-dazzled levels and the
  streaming, straining wagons, And the faces of
  the Sisters as they bore the wounded in?

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(Till the pain was merciful and stunned us into
silence When each nerve cried out on God that
made the misused clayWhen the Body triumphed
and the last poor shame departed These abode
our agonies and wiped the sweat away.) Who
recalls the noontide and the funerals through the
market (Blanket-hidden bodies, flagless,
followed by the flies?)And the footsore
firing-party, and the dust and stench and
staleness, And the faces of the Sisters and the
glory in their eyes? (Bold behind the battle,
in the open camp all-hallowed, Patient, wise,
and mirthful in the ringed and reeking
town,These endured unresting till they rested
from their labours Little wasted bodies, ah, so
light to lower down!) Yet their graves are
scattered and their names are clean forgotten,
Earth shall not remember, but the Waiting Angel
knowsThem that died at Uitvlugt when the plague
was on the city Her that fell at Simons Town
in service on our foes. Wherefore we they
ransomed, while the breath is in our nostrils
Now and not hereafterere the meaner years go
byPraise with love and worship many honourable
women, Those that gave their lives for us when
we were like to die !
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Dirge

• Dirge slow sad song.
• Kipling wants us to remember and honour the women
  nurses. He does so respectfully but with great
  sorrow in a song that celebrates and laments.

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Conditions

• Dust
• Flies
• Staleness
• Stench
• Reeking
• Wasted

• Which words give us an indication of the
  conditions the nurses worked in?

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Contrast
Kipling describes the funerals in graphic detail
yet within the same stanza he highlights the
glory of the nurses. Their strength in
adversity and his admiration for what they did is
heightened by the contrast between the two. We
are asked to recall the procession through the
market of bodies covered in blankets rather than
the time-honoured tradition of flags. Flags were
too expensive to use. Kipling also emphasises the
unpleasantness and pity of the situation through
his alliterative description, flagless, followed
by the fliesfootsore firing-partystench and
staleness. Yet through all of this, the Sisters
worked tirelessly to help the men. And they did
so with pride.

• Kipling makes one word stand out in the second
  stanza by contrasting it with the rest of the
  details in the stanza. Which word is it and what
  point is Kipling making?

• Who recalls the noontide and the funerals through
  the market
• (blanket hidden bodies, flagless, followed by the
  flies?)
• And the footsore firing-party, and the dust and
  stench and staleness
• And the faces of the Sisters and the glory in
  their eyes?

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Rhetorical question
Kipling is asking all of us the soldiers who
fought and the readers to remember the war.
However, he is also making the point that we
usually remember the battles and victories, the
headlines and the heroes of war rather than the
medics and support staff who enabled the troops
to fight. We can all recall (especially the
audience for whom the poem is written in the
early 20th century) the dead soldiers and we
honour them with memorials and war cemeteries but
we must also remember the nurses.

• Who recalls the twilight and the ranged tents in
  order?
• Who recalls the noontide and the funerals through
  the market?

• Kipling structures the poem by starting many of
  the stanzas with the same rhetorical question
  (who recalls?). What do we normally remember
  (recall) about wars? Why does he start with the
  rhetorical question?

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Brackets (parentheses)
Kipling places some of the description in
brackets because they act as almost prompts to
our or the soldiers memory. At first he asks
who recalls and then he reminds us of what to
recall the horror, the stench of the dying and
the dead, the incongruous beauty of the tents and
what happens inside them. By using parenthesis
each time, its almost a suggestion that we do
forget the details, that memories of war fade
over time. The description is in brackets lest we
have forgotten and cannot recall the awful
reality of war. We are also given a clear
indication of Kiplings attitude towards the
Sisters as bold behind the battle. This is in
brackets because they are often forgotten.

• (violet peaks uplifted through the crystal
  evening air)
• (blanket-hidden bodies, flagless, followed by the
  flies)
• (Bold behind the battle in the open camp
  all-hallowed)

• Kipling adds graphic details and vivid imagery in
  brackets. Why does he put these in brackets? What
  is the effect?

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Alliteration

• Alliteration is used for many reasons. Some of
  its effects are
• To make deliberate connections between the words
  starting with the same letter. The connections
  can help to build up a picture.
• To speed up or slow down part of the poem to
  mimic the actions being described or to change
  the tone and mood of the poem
• To make sounds either soft or harsh depending on
  what is being described
• To add rhythm or flow to a poem so that is sounds
  harmonious and orderly. This can sometimes be
  used ironically.

• Kipling makes frequent use of alliteration in
  this extract from the poem. What is the effect of
  the alliteration each time?
• CLICK FOR HELP ON THE EFFCT OF ALLITERATION IN
  GENERAL

• blanket-hidden bodies
• flagless, followed by the flies
• footsore firing-party
• stench and staleness
• bold behind the battle
• ringed and reeking town

The alliteration of ringed and reeking helps to
emphasise the fact that the town is surrounded
and defined by battle and disease. The effect of
the alliteration helps to add a harshness to the
second word reeking stressing the stench of the
dying bodies, the poor sanitation and the
chemicals used to combat disease.
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The Nurses (Sisters)
and the clink of iron teacups and the piteous
noble laughter and the faces of the Sisters with
dust upon their hair?
Sympathy and sorrow
Pity and sadness
patient, wise and mirthful in the ringed and
reeking town.
Little wasted bodies, ah, so light to lower
down.
bold behind the battle, in the open camp all
hallowed
And the faces of the Sisters and the glory in
their eyes?
Pride and honour
Courage and bravery