I'm going to start off by saying that poetry does not interest me. However I have a few exceptions, and this one of the few poems that actually makes sense to me. I'm not a fan of being belligerent or of war, but I like watching movies and reading stories about them. It moves me to hear about soldiers that put their lives on the line for our sake. And in this poem, Arthur, who is very adept at describing nature, writes about how any given soldier can fall in battle and still have the world going on around him, as if nothing has happened.
The Sleeper in the Valley
-Arthur Rimbaud
It is a green hollow where a stream gurgles,
crazily catching silver rags of itself on the grasses.
Where the sun shines from the proud mountain,
it is a little valley bubbling over with light.
A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed,
with the nape of his neck bathed in cool blue cresses
sleeps; he is stretched out on the grass, under the sky.
Pale on his green bed where the light falls like rain.
His feet in the yellow flags, he lies sleeping. Smiling as
a sick child might smile, he is having a nap.
Cradle him warmly, Nature: he is cold.
No odor makes his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, his hand on his breast.
At peace. There are two red holes in his right side.
