English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy wrote "Channel Firing" in 1914, just months before World War I began. The poem imagines a graveyard that is disturbed by the noise of warships firing their guns out at sea. Although the firing is only practice, not an actual battle, the noise is enough to wake the dead in the graveyard. They think it is Judgement Day (i.e., the Apocalypse), but God reassures them that it's just business as usual here on Earth. In this bleakly satirical back-and-forth between God and the dead, the poem presents a pessimistic view of human history and modern war.
|
Get
LitCharts
|
|
The Full Text of “Channel Firing”
1That night your great guns, unawares,
2Shook all our coffins as we lay,
3And broke the chancel window-squares,
4We thought it was the Judgment-day
5And sat upright. While drearisome
6Arose the howl of wakened hounds:
7The mouse let fall the altar-crumb,
8The worms drew back into the mounds,
9The glebe cow drooled. Till God called, “No;
10It’s gunnery practice out at sea
11Just as before you went below;
12The world is as it used to be:
13“All nations striving strong to make
14Red war yet redder. Mad as hatters
15They do no more for Christés sake
16Than you who are helpless in such matters.
17“That this is not the judgment-hour
18For some of them’s a blessed thing,
19For if it were they’d have to scour
20Hell’s floor for so much threatening....
21“Ha, ha. It will be warmer when
22I blow the trumpet (if indeed
23I ever do; for you are men,
24And rest eternal sorely need).”
25So down we lay again. “I wonder,
26Will the world ever saner be,”
27Said one, “than when He sent us under
28In our indifferent century!”
29And many a skeleton shook his head.
30“Instead of preaching forty year,”
31My neighbour Parson Thirdly said,
32“I wish I had stuck to pipes and beer.”
33Again the guns disturbed the hour,
34Roaring their readiness to avenge,
35As far inland as Stourton Tower,
36And Camelot, and starlit Stonehenge.
The Full Text of “Channel Firing”
1That night your great guns, unawares,
2Shook all our coffins as we lay,
3And broke the chancel window-squares,
4We thought it was the Judgment-day
5And sat upright. While drearisome
6Arose the howl of wakened hounds:
7The mouse let fall the altar-crumb,
8The worms drew back into the mounds,
9The glebe cow drooled. Till God called, “No;
10It’s gunnery practice out at sea
11Just as before you went below;
12The world is as it used to be:
13“All nations striving strong to make
14Red war yet redder. Mad as hatters
15They do no more for Christés sake
16Than you who are helpless in such matters.
17“That this is not the judgment-hour
18For some of them’s a blessed thing,
19For if it were they’d have to scour
20Hell’s floor for so much threatening....
21“Ha, ha. It will be warmer when
22I blow the trumpet (if indeed
23I ever do; for you are men,
24And rest eternal sorely need).”
25So down we lay again. “I wonder,
26Will the world ever saner be,”
27Said one, “than when He sent us under
28In our indifferent century!”
29And many a skeleton shook his head.
30“Instead of preaching forty year,”
31My neighbour Parson Thirdly said,
32“I wish I had stuck to pipes and beer.”
33Again the guns disturbed the hour,
34Roaring their readiness to avenge,
35As far inland as Stourton Tower,
36And Camelot, and starlit Stonehenge.
-
“Channel Firing” Summary
-
-
“Channel Firing” Themes
-
The Senselessness and Futility of War
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
Religious Doubt
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
The Helplessness of Individuals
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Channel Firing”
-
Lines 1-5
That night your great guns, unawares,
Shook all our coffins as we lay,
And broke the chancel window-squares,
We thought it was the Judgment-day
And sat upright. -
Lines 5-9
While drearisome
Arose the howl of wakened hounds:
The mouse let fall the altar-crumb,
The worms drew back into the mounds,
The glebe cow drooled. -
Lines 9-12
Till God called, “No;
It’s gunnery practice out at sea
Just as before you went below;
The world is as it used to be: -
Lines 13-16
“All nations striving strong to make
Red war yet redder. Mad as hatters
They do no more for Christés sake
Than you who are helpless in such matters. -
Lines 17-20
“That this is not the judgment-hour
For some of them’s a blessed thing,
For if it were they’d have to scour
Hell’s floor for so much threatening.... -
Lines 21-24
“Ha, ha. It will be warmer when
I blow the trumpet (if indeed
I ever do; for you are men,
And rest eternal sorely need).” -
Lines 25-28
So down we lay again. “I wonder,
Will the world ever saner be,”
Said one, “than when He sent us under
In our indifferent century!” -
Lines 29-32
And many a skeleton shook his head.
“Instead of preaching forty year,”
My neighbour Parson Thirdly said,
“I wish I had stuck to pipes and beer.” -
Lines 33-36
Again the guns disturbed the hour,
Roaring their readiness to avenge,
As far inland as Stourton Tower,
And Camelot, and starlit Stonehenge.
-
-
“Channel Firing” Symbols
-
Great Guns
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
The Trumpet
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
Stars
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
-
“Channel Firing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Alliteration
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Assonance
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Consonance
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Personification
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Aporia
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Caesura
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Enjambment
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
End-Stopped Line
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Cliché
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Irony
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Understatement
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Allusion
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Repetition
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Colloquialism
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
-
“Channel Firing” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Great guns
- Chancel
- Window-squares
- Judgment-day
- Hounds
- Altar-crumb
- Glebe cow
- Gunnery
- Red war
- Mad as hatters
- Christés sake
- Judgment-hour
- Scour
- Hell's floor
- Trumpet
- Indifferent century
- Forty year
- Parson Thirdly
- Stourton Tower
- Camelot
- Stonehenge
-
- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Channel Firing”
-
Form
-
Meter
-
Rhyme Scheme
-
-
“Channel Firing” Speaker
-
-
“Channel Firing” Setting
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Channel Firing”
-
-
More “Channel Firing” Resources
-
External Resources
-
A Biography of Hardy — A detailed biography of Hardy, along with more poems, from the Poetry Foundation.
-
Making and Firing an Artillery Cannon — A short, German, WWI-era film showing the production and firing of an artillery cannon. From the archives of the British Film Institute.
-
A Brief History of Stourton Tower — Concise information about Stourton Tower, otherwise known as King Alfred's Tower, along with some pictures, from Atlas Obscura.
-
A History of Stonehenge — Information about Stonehenge from English Heritage, the organization that looks after it.
-
Possible Locations of Camelot — An overview of possible real locations for the mythical city of Camelot, from Historic UK.
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by Thomas Hardy
-
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
