Describe the sleep on the valley
Answers
Asleep in the Valley means sleeping in the valley. A very young soldier is lying on the ground of a valley open mouthed. He is lying with a gentle innocent smile
Answer:
The poem is about the death of a young soldier, whose body lies among the ferns and flowers in a valley. This poem is most probably written in the October of 1870 but was published in the collection called, Anthologie Lemerre in 1888. It is known to have been written in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Since there’s no evidence to suggest any battle to have been fought in Charleville, it is probable that this poem may have been inspired by the war but is not an actual account of a real incident. The original was written in French, named ‘Le Dormeur du Val’. This English version was translated by Paul Schmidt. The poem is set in a war ravaged valley. The overall mood of the poem is melancholic. However, the melancholy is undercut by an appreciation of life and acceptance of death. The melancholic yet peaceful mood is brought by Rimbaud’s attention to life, which is portrayed in the form of nature and the slow, gentle pace of the poem. But in the last line, the mood changes to one of shock, because that is where the speaker tells us that the soldier is actually dead and not asleep as previously described