At+the+Justice+Department

"At the Justice Department, November 15, 1969" By: Denise Levertov

media type="file" key="Poem form.swf" Imagery: The sense of sight is used frequently in this poem. It is a vital part of any poem to convey emotion more thoroughly. Sight is described as "Brown gas fog and white beneath the street lamps" (Levertov 1119). The quote describes the chaos involved in the riot when tear gas was sprayed into the crowd. The sense of sight is very powerful in this poem primarily because it is the sole sense used in this poem to convey the message of realism in describing the protest. Devices of sound: Surprisingly, there is no mention of things heard in this poem. There is no rhyme scheme shown, so this poem is a free verse. Consonance is shown when the poem states "wanting it, wanting" (Levertov 1119).
 * Title: "At the Justice Department" This poem suggests that subject has to do with justice for a cause. The title is relevant because it has to do with anti-war protests.
 * Author: Denise Levertov is the author of this poem. She became a poet in response to protesting the injustice of the Vietnam War.

Figurative Language:
 * symbol: The brown gas represents the "grim odds" that the protesters were up against.
 * metaphor: "clear in its despair, a kind of joy" (1119) this is a metaphor because it compares the despair to the joy. Their despair is a kind of joy for the protesters.

Other Elements: The overall mood of this poem is reminiscent of suffering, but a desire and willingness to take the suffering and despair. This is created by the repitition of the protesters "wanting" they wanted this anguish because to them it was a "kind of joy" because they knew they would not be killed, but their protest would be heard. This willingness to suffer for their cause comes in as the theme of the poem; the theme is that you must be willing to struggle for what you feel is right.

Analytical Paragraphs Cale: This poem is about the want for the Vietnam war to end, which has turned into a war itself, a war on the home front. The repitition of the word wanting shows the protesters desire for th war to end, this desire becomes its own war. Protesters came to fight the "grim odds" (1119) and stand for their beliefs. Then, the images of a war presented itself to the protesters during their protest. "Bodies that stumble in brown airlessness"(1119) conveys more of an image of a war than a protest. Next, they were "cut off on three sides, all space filled with our bodies"(1119) This imagery is another it is more familiar to be thought of in war instead of protest. This poem means that their was a war on the home front during the Vietnam era, a fight between those that want to fight, and those who do not.

Matt: The poem"At the Justice Department", to me, means that there is great struggle in fighting for a cause. This theme occurs countless times when describing the protest in the poem. This poem describes struggle when saying "Bodies that stumble/in brown arilessnesss, whitenedd" Levertov(1119). This, to me, symbolizes the peoples struggle to protest against the vietnam war. This poem also states "wanting it, wanting/to be here, the body believing it's" (Levertov 1119). This instance clearly describes a great desire in fighting for their cause. To me, this poem symbolizes the struggles dealt with in protesting the vietnam war.