As bronze may be much beautified

By lying in the dark damp soil,
So men who fade in dust of warfare fade
Fairer, and sorrow blooms their soul.


Like pearls which noble women wear
And, tarnishing, awhile confide
Unto the old salt sea to feed,
Many return more lustrous than they were.


But what of them buried profound,
Buried where we can no more find.
Who ( )
Lie dark for ever under abysmal war?

2nd



As bronze may be much beautified 1st Stanza


As bronze may be much beautified
By lying in the dark damp soil,
So men who fade in dust of warfare fade
Fairer, and sorrow blooms their soul.


Word Meaning


bronze - a hard yellowish brown alloy of copper and tin that offers a balance of strength,wear resistance,and corrosion resistance.true bronze the variation in bronze ,both in proportion and elemental composition ,can significantly effect its weathering characteristics
damp - wet
fade - 1.weak/insipid
2.dim/lose brightness,loudness/brilliance gradually/wither
3. lose strength or vitality /wane
disappear gradually/vanish
confide - put faith/trust/tell in secret/entrust



2nd Stanza



Like pearls which noble women wear
And, tarnishing, awhile confide
Unto the old salt sea to feed,
Many return more lustrous than they were.
Word Meaning

tarnishing - dull the luster of/discolor,especially by exposure to air or dirt/

unto - to(until+to)
now used only in antiquated or bygone or obsolete or old fashioned formal or scriptural style

pearl - a smooth ,lustrous, variously colored deposit ,chiefly calcium carbonate formed around a grain of sand or other foreign matter in the shells of certain mollusks and valued as gem
old salt - raconteur or teller of sea stories/an old fashioned term for experienced sailor
old salt sea - this may mean old salt of sea(sea stories may be truthful ,half truth or falsehood.however they enhance the naval and marine units or individual.

(raconteur - one who tells stories with anecdotes with skill and art)
3rd Stanza



But what of them buried profound,
Buried where we can no more find.
Who ( )
Lie dark for ever under abysmal war?


Word Meaning


abysmal - resssssembling an abyss in depth//unfathomable/very profound/limitless/very bad/immeasurable
abyss - the abode of evil spirit /hell
profound - absolute/situated at ,extending to or coming from a great depth/complete/deep/pervasive



3rd

An Analysis

Here is an irony in the expression a bronze will be valued vehemently if it is kept into wet underground.A bronze is a hard yellowish brown alloy of copper and tin.It embodies balance of strength and resistance.But the poet asserts that ornamenting value and the decorating stability of a bronze will not be granted if it is not not tested.
So is the case in respect of soldiers who are to be deep delved into earth in darkness to provide their proof of devotion and dedication to the respective country.
lines 3-4 = These soldiers who dim or lose brightness or brilliance gradually and lose vitality gradually due to the brutal impact of war ,disappear fairly or rightly because of haphazardness and disliking the war .They do not accept war spiritually .Their disappearance resembles their rejection of war that causes only death instead of life.
Their regret flourishes their spirit because when the soldiers were alive ,they could not curb the brutal claws of war.They could not express their disapproval as they did not know what war is.They were wrongly fed up with the false notion of war.They were told sacrificing life in war for the sake of unknown cause for the country is a great virtue.Thus they were misguided to participate in the most inhumane devastation in human world.They become aware of such ruthlessness after they had experienced the atrocities in war.They waned themselves.They lost their strength.They were losing their vitality gradually.They are now dead buried underground.Now the sorrow felt by themselves for their own deaths flourishes their souls.They feel the atonement in their own death for murdering so many other soldiers from other countries.
It is also said that they now feel the loss of young lives and understand the inappropriateness of mass killing.They are being felt for the lives of others those mirror their selves.
lines 5-8 = The returning of the soldiers from the battlefield of bloodshed to their own home ground has been compared with the appearance of pearl.The value of a pearl is understood best when it is worn by women.Then it gets its price.These pearls get their originality of brightness and brilliance when these are worn on necks of the women.Soldiers are not lustrous because they have not left their lives in the battlefield and fled away successfully from being murdered in the name of war but because the knowing of untold truth makes them more brilliant and more important.They are of real value with their direct experience of war and warring and warriors.They might be now wanted tauntingly in public to express their own views t hat has been formed with the reality of war.

Here noble women are the beloveds of the soldiers who are confided to the false cause of the country because of the half-false or full-false or story told by the twisters of war who have played tricks to summon destruction in war for their own sake.The expression,'noble women' may have reference to the respective soldiers' motherlands who sent their sons to take action in war front for an unknown reason which has not been even known to her.She only sent her those sons whom she considered that they could solve the problem showing their own charisma and caliber and intellect in peaceful way.
It may refers to the mothers of the soldiers .
It may have a reference to the rich women who used to wear ornaments made of pearls...They agreed to the inducing proposals of the war mongers who told false stories anecdoted with skill and wit.

Criticism

These haphazard lines are intentionally woven to reveal the absurdity of contemporary environment and chaotic atmosphere everywhere.The poet is anxious for the soldiers who had been killed in heart-rendering world fight and consequently had got burials nominally.Their existence had been erased and the authority did not keep any trace of remembrance for them.The authority felt frightened for their doing wrong in fear of mass awakening.Thus the humane soldiers had been deeply delved into the unfathomable depth of earth.Even the survivors could not find their friend enemies. out.The dead soldiers ,thus, lie in darkness .Darkness is not only used to put the dead soldiers in the abode of evil spirits or in hell but it also connotes the idea of falsehood of warfare.As dark can not be good or well ,so as in the case of warfare which is evil in spirit that causes only death.It may also refers to the secret hushed up by war waiters.False is hidden in the house of darkness.