Reading and Reasoning: War Poetry

1. The gun he is describing here is a canon.
2. The “jackies” are pirates at sea. They would be singing war chanties because they are enjoying their attack on a ship.
3. He means that the shovel is very similar to the gun. The gun is used to attack or kill someone, which can cause trouble or bring justice, similar to the shovel. When you loosen turf using a shovel it is like a gun causing trouble while leveling the sod is like a gun bringing justice and order back.
4. The poem talks about people blindly obeying orders, which do and undo things.
5. It is trying to show irony in the poem by using complete opposite words. The persona is very fierce and strict towards the soldiers and citizens, the persona commands both soldiers and citizens, he does not ask politely.
6. It is definitely harder to built a society back up. In the recent events happening around the world, the earthquake that struck Japan is a good example. Japan is finding it really hard to rebuild their country, many people is injured and they do not have sufficient resources. Another example is rebuilding a house. It takes only a few hours to demolish a house but might take a few years to build it back up again.
7. It shows the sounds of soldiers driving large loud trucks. It represents an army of soldiers riding in huge trucks and tanks crushing houses and whatever is in its way.
8. A “king” who was kicked under the dust recently is the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. He was found out to be having sexual relationships with women, even paying for a service from prostitute, Karima El Mahrough. He should not do these things because he is a leader of a country, as a leader of a country he should set a good example. He should be ashamed of himself, many people have definitely lost respect for him. He has been “kicked under the dust” because he will not be someone who is respected anymore, instead he earned himself a bad reputation.