Most of "next to of course god america i
" is in quotation marks. Only the last line of the poem is not. The quotation seems to be that of a patriot
, someone who feels strongly about America. Possibly a politician
or, more likely, a military leader. The entire quote appears to be paraphrased; probably from a speech given in public, at some important event or another. The speaker of the poem reword
s the speech into a general summary of his impressions, colored by his own opinions of speech. He is fairly cynical and mock
ing of the patriot's attitude towards America and, later, the necessity of warfare
The poem begins with the patriot's statement that he loves America more than anything, with the only exception being God. The poet also deliberately ends the first line with the three words "god america i", giving a visual idea that this is the order of importance in which the speaker places things: first God, then America, and lastly himself. He is a good, traditional leader with religion and selflessness in his heart. The speaker of the poem goes on to summarize the patriot's words by quoting many well known cliché's from American history. The speaker is trying to show that what the patriotic speaker has to say is entirely unoriginal and has been said dozens of times before. More, that the patriot himself, despite whoever he may be or what position or rank he may hold, is just as unoriginal. He is just another copy of the common military stereotype.
Where he says "we should worry in every language even deafanddumb", the speaker is commenting on the patriot's point that America is a mixture of cultures and people who are different, diverse, and speaking many languages. He is also commenting on how the speech is politically correct; it considers national diversity, includes the handicapped, thanks God, and uses only the lightest of oaths, "by gee by gosh", while still being passionate and emotional.
The group of oaths beginning with "by gorry" are all euphemistic terms used sometimes in place of more explicit curses. In this case they both are politically correct, and effective at showing the outer speaker's feelings on patriotism. These exclamations are polite terms used instead of profanities. They convey the idea of innocence: the "sons" mentioned speak with innocence. They are the "heroic happy dead" mentioned later, soldiers sent off to war who have died. The poem's speaker has phrased these lines to show how these soldiers are mostly very young and innocent, some of them no more than boys who have been sent to battle and died.
They are beautiful to the patriot, great defenders of freedom. But to the speaker of the poem, this is sarcasm. What could be more beautiful than these innocent young men, lost in the horrors of war? One line says they "rushed like lions", brave and fearless against their enemy. The next contradicts this, saying that they "did not stop to think they died instead", implying that their bravery is little more than foolishness. Again there is another secret behind these lines. While the patriot may see himself making a good point with these statements, the poem's speaker means for the reader to see him contradicting himself. First they are heroic and brave and wonderful, then they are just foolish men lost to further the war effort.
The speaker continues to mock the patriot's fervor where the phrase "deafanddumb" runs together, and where the word "beautiful" is separated into two lines. The visual implication is that he is talking so fast that his words are getting all mashed up; they are running together and falling apart. The same seems to follow true for the rhyme scheme. At the beginning of the poem, every other line rhymes. At the end the order of the rhymes changes; it seems to become very jumbled up. There are still pairs of rhyming lines but they follow no pattern, as if the speaker is going so fast he has mixed up his speech or lost his place.
The patriot again makes a fool of himself in the last line of the quotation. When he asks "shall the voice of liberty be mute?" he is trying to end his speech on a very dramatic point. But he himself is currently playing the "voice of liberty", and has certainly not been mute. Ironically, he has probably been very loud and made himself be heard by many people. Although in the case of the poem's speaker, who has taken the speech and changed it with his own words, the patriot's words have been heard but not felt. His message has been lost to cynicism of the speaker, and to anyone who hears him through the poem.
The last line, outside of the quotation, shows the reader that the message is being conveyed through a second person, the speaker of the poem. It also shows how excited the quoted speaker had become while talking. He has exhausted himself talking and thirstily drinks a glass of water.
I node my homework only to know it was all worth it somehow.