Spender and Sankichi Two Views of Disaster
Stephen Spender's "Epilogue to a Human Drama" and Toge Sankichi's "Dying" are poems detailing the destruction of two cities, London and Hiroshima, respectively, during or after World War II bombings. Spender wrote "Epilogue to a Human Drama," hereafter referred to as "Epilogue," after a December air raid of London during the Battle of Britain, which ravaged and razed much of England from Summer 1940 until Spring 1941. Sankichi wrote "Dying" from his vivid recollections of the surprise atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which decimated the Japanese city in less than a second. Both the Battle of Britain and Hiroshima were horrible, senseless, and vicious incidents that exacted gave tolls on innocent victims. Spender endured the Battle of Britain, and Sankichi experienced the horror of Hiroshima. The poets' responses differ greatly in style and perspective, but each work clearly defines the ramifications of atrocities such as those committed against Spender, Sankichi, and the populations of London and Hiroshima. England's Royal Air Force battled Germany's Luftwaffe from August 1940 until May 1941. During that conflict, England was subjected to air raids day and night. When Hitler finally withdrew his birds of war, four hundred tho
These two works and authors take very different approaches to the destruction occurring around them. Spender is detached and reflective; Sankichi is involved and immediate. They do, however, share confusion as to what is happening to their respective cities. Spender, surveying the damage, realizes this could have been prevented. Sankichi, witnessing unimaginable horror, simply asks "Why?" (78). Each of these poems serve as a testament to readers who have never experienced war of the often imagined but never fully comprehended costs of war and man's inhumanity to man. Hiroshima's destruction came without warning. Japanese High Command, which was located Hiroshima's ancient castle, was alerted early to the approach of the Enola Gay by an observation post on the island of Shikoku. The High Command elected to sound no air raid warning because they considered it senseless to disrupt work in local armament factories due to a single plane (Bruckner 98). At precisely 8:15 AM local time, the fuse was lit inside the descending bomb. Seconds later, in a blinding flash of sheer energy, several million degrees of heat were unleashed on the people of Hiroshima. In less than a second, eighty-six thousand one hundred men, women, and children were burned to death. Seventy-two thousand were severely injured; many of who would die later from atomic bomb sickness (Bruckner 99). Jablonski, Edward. Terror from the Sky. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1971, 144-148.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1969
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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