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Aral Note O Level Subjects ▼ A Level Subjects ▼

Comprehensive O/A Level notes

I Hear an Army

I hear an army charging upon the land,

And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about their knees:
Arrogant, in black armour, behind them stand,
Disdaining the reins, with fluttering whips, the charioteers.

They cry unto the night their battle-name:

I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling laughter.
They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding flame,
Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an anvil. Comment Reblog Subscribe

They come shaking in triumph their long, green hair:

They come out of the sea and run shouting by the shore.
My heart, have you no wisdom thus to despair?
My love, my love, my love, why have you left me alone?

Line-by-Line Analysis:
Stanza 1:
I hear an army charging upon the land,
The usage of ‘I hear’ as the rst words in the poem shows that sound (and the other
senses) will be given a high amount of importance
The sound created will be eshed out more and more as the poem goes on
The fact that this army can be heard before it is seen shows that it was not
sneaking up on him – it was very apparent, perhaps with the intent of intimidating
him

And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about

their knees:
‘Thunder’ is the rst biblical imagery used, creating images of the apocalypse as
described by the Book of Revelation
According to: https://langara.libguides.com/c.php?g=710370&p=5061803
“When he was young, his aunt told him that thunder and lightning were God’s
warning to sinners to repent of their sins or suffer eternal damnation. Despite
his break from the Church, Joyce remained afraid of thunderstorms throughout
his life. The thunder in this poem, depicted in the form of the thundering hooves
of horsemen (coming to slay sinners?) could be frightening him and making him
“despair” of his own salvation.”
There is extremely vivid imagery – a clear image of horses galloping in from the sea
is created
It is a recurring theme in this poem that the descriptions are quite concrete as
opposed to being gurative, which helps the reader visualize the army and feel
the effect of the army better
It is interesting to note that the warriors rode in on horses, exactly the mode of
transport used in conventional warfare then
The ‘u’ sound in thunder and plunging creates an internal rhyme
The emergence of the horses from the sea also reminds readers of the initial
emergence of sh from the sea after the Cambrian Explosion, suggesting that those
coming out are strange, of another species and time

Arrogant, in black armour, behind them stand, /

Disdaining the reins, with uttering whips, the
charioteers.
The repeated usage of caesura – the breaking of the line with commas – suggests
that the poet is very distraught
These sentences are inverted – the adjectives are present before the actual object
they describe (the charioteers)
This creates suspense, adding to the tense atmosphere
Their status as charioteers is also another example of biblical imagery
Again, the descriptions are very concrete, leaving little to the imagination: arrogant,
black, uttering
We also get a rst sense as to the character of the invading army
The description of ‘arrogant’ and ‘disdaining’ gives them aloof, con dent auras.
Furthermore, these are strangely human adjectives, going against the
otherworldly aspect descriptions such as of their ‘black armour’ create
The ‘ uttering whips’ coupled with the imagery of them forcing themselves
through despite the water resistance makes it clear that they are extremely
powerful
‘Whip’ is an example of onomatoepia

Stanza 2:
They cry unto the night their battle-name:
Adding to the auditory imagery
The usage of ‘battle-name’ adds to the military imagery
It also makes it clear that this is an organized force, united under one particular
cause. It is up to us to decide what this particular cause, or what they are
preaching, is
Here, the repition of ‘They ___’ starts, helping otherize the army and portray them as
the ‘bad guy’

I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling

laughter.
For the rst time in the poem there is a shift from description of the incoming army
to now a description of the affect it has on him
It is also revealed that they are a part of his nightmare
It is interesting to note that, unlike the lines describing the incoming army, this
contains no hard consonant sounds. This otherizes the army and also makes them
seem more blunt.
The previous line contains many hard consonants: They cry unto the night…
whereas this line relies on softer ‘f’ and ‘s’ sounds and repeated vowels
The description of their laughter as ‘whirling’ is disorienting, emphasizing the
mental affect they have on him
Furthermore, it also adds to the nightmarish effect, making them seem like
clowns

They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding

ame,
The pluralization of ‘dreams’ suggests that this, perhaps, is not the rst time that he
has seen such an image, suggesting that this is a thing that he commonly worries
about
This also adds to the rst line and him hearing the army before seeing it –
perhaps he anticipated it and thus knew what to listen out for
The usage of ‘cleave’ makes it seem like they are cutting through (the gloom),
emphasizing that they are a disturbing force
They are disturbing the ‘gloom’ of his dreams
‘Blinding ame’ is also interesting:
This could be a representation of God’s mesage – Holy revelation is often
described as light
It adds to the disoreintedness
The juxtaposition of light and darkness otherizes the army
This is also an example of something typically positive being used in a negative
light – ame typically represents good, but in this case the army has
consistently been portrayed as evil

Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an

anvil.
The repition of ‘clanging’ adds on to the ‘cl’ alliteration
Its repition helps emphasize the violent nature of the attack
It also adds to onomatoepia
Anvils are typically viewed as forces of good, converting swords into non-weaponry
metals. However, in this case it is bad, another example of positive things being
displayed in a negative light.
This topsy-turviness helps enunciate that something is not right here
The usage of ‘heart’ emphasizes taht this is a mental war of hearts and minds, not a
physical one

Stanza 3:
They come shaking in triumph their long, green
hair: / They come out of the sea and run shouting
by the shore.
The description of their hair:
Makes them seem strange and alien, other-izing them. This creates an ‘us’ vs
‘them’ effect
It is also very similar to seaweed – perhaps the author, in his distraught state,
misinterpreted the seaweed around him as evil in his dreams?
It is also another example of good being portrayed as evil – green is typically
associated with plants/life
An admission of defeat – they have been victorious in their affront on his mind
Their ‘running shouting by the shore’ again depicts their chaotic nature
Furthermore, the fact that they just emerged showed that they were able to
create such a great affect from afar – what would they be able to do in person?

My heart, have you no wisdom thus to despair?

This is a sudden shift in tone – now, for the rst time, the author is seen as talking
to himself as opposed to the previous descriptions of the world around him
This suggests that he has just started from a dream
What you believe his love/heart/to despair represents depends on how you interpret
the poem
His lack of wisdom shows that he has been very distraught and thus is not able to
think properly
The ending of the poem with two rhetorical questions also adds to this, making
him seem uncertain
Him valuing it suggests that he prefers it over the inhuman warfare
The placement of thus means that this line can be interpreted in to ways:
If you view ‘thus’ as a part of the question, it could be suggesting that the wise
thing to do would be to despair
You could also view it as a break in the sentence – due to his lack of wisdom, he
was despairing

My love, my love, my love, why have you left me

alone?
Repition of ‘my love’ makes him seem distraught
The last line consists entirely of iambs, broken only by the last ‘alone’
This stresses this word, suggesting that it is another line in and of itself
He is imploring to (someone), begging for safety
It is an adaptation of Jesus’s words on the cross: ‘My God, my God, Why have you
forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34).

Analysis:
Structure:
Meter:
This poem is a mixture of iambs and anapaests
Iambs are an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Anapaests are two unstressed syllables follow by a stressed syllable
This adds to the galloping affect of the hooves of the horses

Rhyme Scheme:
There is an ABAB rhyme scheme
Internal rhyme
These accentuate the rhythmic movement of the army

Literary Devices:
Caesura:
The braeking of lines with commas displays how distraught the author is while
writing the poem

Onomatoepia:
Several words ‘whip’, ‘moan’, ‘clanging’ etc. which add to the atmosphere

Repitition:
Repition of words/phrases such as ‘clanging’ and ‘my love’ emphasize certain
messages

Consonance/Assonance:
The repition of hard consonant sounds creates a cacophony, adding to the chaose of
this poem
The usage of soft consonants while describing the author shows how vulnerable he
is

Interpretations:
This poem is intentionally vague as to what the army represents and as to the nature of
his distraught. Due to this, I shall list below some of the ways I have seen this poem
being interpreted below and give evidence for each of them. Keeping them in mind,
look at the poem through that lens of analysis

Joyce as a Foresaken Lover:

This poem could be interpreted as Joyce being distraught over being rejected by his
lover.

The army then would simply be a gment of his imagination conjured up y his
distraught, love-stricken mind
It could also be his lost feelings attacking him
His love in the last two lines would then represent his actual lover
In this case, the meaning of the last two lines is pretty straightforward – he is
begging his heart to abandon his emotions and asking why his lover left him

Joyce and Religion:

It can be interpreted as Joyce lamenting over his struggles with religion. The army could
represent the eventual damnation he was to receive for his negligence of religion,
ending with him questioning as to why he could not bring himself to believe in God.

This poem has quite a lot of religious imagery and illusions – the army would then
represent God’s message trying to persuade him
Alternatively, it could be a represntation of the wrath he was to experience as
an aethiest
His love in the last two lines, then , would represent God
The second last line, then, would be him imploring to his heart to ‘despair’ and turn
to religion
The last line would be him begging to God for salvation

Joyce and World War 1:

This poem was written a few years before world war one, where signs of the war were
already very prominent. This could be a warning to society to not indulge in it, fearing
what would happen if they did

In this case, the depiction of violence would be to add to the fearsome affect, as if
he was trying to depict the harms of war and dissuade people from engaging in it
The biblical imagery would then aim to tell people that this would lead to the
apocalypse
His ‘love’ while asking the rhetorical questions would then represent his love for the
society around him
The second last line would then be a lamentation of the lack of sense of the society
around him and their constant war-mongering
The last line would be him begging society not to disdain his life and go to war

Not including any themes since they are highly subjective depending on your
interpretation. From what I can garner, a prominent ones are despair and violence

Resources:

https://langara.libguides.com/c.php?g=710370&p=5061803

https://poetryprof.com/i-hear-an-army/

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