This is a disorientating poem. It communicates a profound sadness and despair through its choice of language, images and sounds, all combining to produce an elegy for a loss that extends far beyond any one conflict or battle, hence the ambiguous epigraph, ‘incident in a future war.’ Perhaps it might be helpful to borrow Julia Kristeva’s phrase for deep sadness: … Continue reading Stevie Smith, ‘Come on, Come back.’ An Analysis-the mind gone walkabout?