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Read these lines from “Grass” by Carl Sandburg.

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work—
I am the grass; I cover all.

How does the personification in these lines affect the poem?


It suggests that the grass consumes the tragedies of war so the living can move on.

It implies that nature plays its role in helping man bury those who lost their lives in war.

It portrays the grass as a being without any empathy for all the lives lost in war.

It explains that nature takes over the landscape once the war has ended.

User Papacostas
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2 Answers

11 votes
11 votes

Final answer:

The personification of grass in Carl Sandburg's poem implies that nature covers the ravages of war, enabling people to heal and move forward. It portrays grass as an equalizing force over the remnants of battle, with the personification making the landscape an integral part of human recovery and the continuity of life post-conflict.

Step-by-step explanation:

The personification of the grass in the lines from “Grass” by Carl Sandburg has a significant impact on the poem. By giving grass human qualities, the poem suggests a continuity of life and a natural process of healing after the devastation of war. The grass, personified, is seen as a benign, equalizing force that covers the scars of battle, enabling the living to move on.

The personification in the poem doesn't suggest that the grass has empathy or a role in burying the dead, nor does it show the grass taking over after the war in a visceral sense. Instead, it underscores the idea that nature acts as a gentle veil, camouflaging the violent past and providing respite.

Personification of the landscape is common in poetry, as seen in the given references, and is used to convey different aspects of human experience and emotion, like in Whitman's works, Sassoon's war poetry, and Wordsworth's nature-focused verses.

User Thomas Hutton
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17 votes
17 votes

Answer:

It portrays the grass as a being without any empathy for all the lives lost in war.

Step-by-step explanation:

Read these lines from “Grass” by Carl Sandburg. Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz-example-1
User Maxim Pontyushenko
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