“What Were They Like?” Introduction

• Read the full text of “What Were They Like?”

“What Were They Like?” Summary

“What Were They Like?” Themes

• 

  The Unknowable Losses of Genocide

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-31
• 

  The Human Cost of War

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-31

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “What Were They Like?”

• Lines 1-4

  1) Did the ...
  ... opening of buds?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-7

  3) Were they inclined ...
  ... silver, for ornament?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-9

  5) Had they an ...
  ... speech and singing?

  

  

  

  

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• Line 10

  1) Sir, their light ... turned to stone.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-12

  It is not ...
  ... lanterns illumined pleasant ways.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-15

  2) Perhaps they ...
  ... no more buds.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-18

  3) Sir, laughter ...
  ... bones were charred.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-21

  5) It is ...
  ... rice and bamboo.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 22-24

  When peaceful clouds ...
  ... sons old tales.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  When bombs smashed ...
  ... like a song.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-31

  It was reported ...
  ... is silent now.

  

  

  

  

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“What Were They Like?” Symbols

• 

  Buds

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 3-4: “Did they hold ceremonies / to reverence the opening of buds?”
  • Lines 13-15: “Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom, / but after their children were killed / there were no more buds.”

“What Were They Like?” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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  Where anaphora appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Did the people”
  • Line 3: “ Did they”
  • Line 5: “Were they”
  • Line 6: “Did they”
  • Line 8: “Had they”
  • Line 9: “Did they”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 9: “speech,” “singing”
  • Line 10: “Sir,” “turned to stone”
  • Line 13: “blossom”
  • Line 14: “but”
  • Line 15: “buds”
  • Line 16: “bitter,” “burned”
  • Line 18: “bones”
  • Line 22: “peaceful,” “paddies”
  • Line 24: “told,” “tales”
  • Line 28: “speech,” “song”
  • Line 29: “reported,” “singing,” “resembled”
  • Line 30: “moths,” “moonlight”
  • Line 31: “say,” “silent”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “ceremonies”
  • Line 4: “reverence”
  • Line 5: “inclined to quiet laughter”
  • Lines 6-7: “bone and ivory, / jade and silver, for ornament”
  • Line 8: “epic poem”
  • Line 9: “Did,” “distinguish,” “speech,” “singing”
  • Line 10: “Sir,” “light hearts turned to stone”
  • Lines 11-12: “remembered whether in gardens / stone lanterns illumined pleasant ways”
  • Line 13: “blossom”
  • Line 14: “but”
  • Line 15: “buds”
  • Line 16: “laughter,” “bitter,” “burned”
  • Line 18: “bones,” “were charred”
  • Line 21: “rice,” “bamboo”
  • Line 22: “peaceful clouds,” “reflected,” “paddies”
  • Line 23: “buffalo stepped surely along terraces”
  • Line 24: “told,” “old tales”
  • Line 25: “bombs smashed,” “mirrors”
  • Line 26: “time only to scream”
  • Line 28: “speech which was,” “song”
  • Line 29: “reported their singing resembled”
  • Line 30: “flight,” “moths in moonlight”
  • Line 31: “can say,” “silent now”

• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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  Where sibilance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “stone”
  • Line 3: “ceremonies”
  • Line 4: “reverence”
  • Line 9: “distinguish,” “speech,” “singing”
  • Line 10: “Sir,” “hearts,” “stone”
  • Line 13: “Perhaps,” “once,” “blossom”
  • Line 23: “stepped surely,” “terraces”
  • Line 28: “speech,” “song”
  • Line 29: “singing”
  • Line 31: “say,” “silent”

• Anadiplosis

  

  

  

  

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  Where anadiplosis appears in the poem:

  • Line 19: “5) It is not remembered. Remember,”

• Euphony

  

  

  

  

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  Where euphony appears in the poem:

  • Lines 6-7: “Did they use bone and ivory, / jade and silver, for ornament?”
  • Lines 11-12: “It is not remembered whether in gardens / stone lanterns illumined pleasant ways.”
  • Lines 22-24: “When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies / and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces, / maybe fathers told their sons old tales.”
  • Lines 29-30: “It was reported their singing resembled / the flight of moths in moonlight.”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 7: “silver, for”
  • Line 10: “Sir, their”
  • Line 16: “Sir, laughter”
  • Line 17: “ago, perhaps. Ornament”
  • Line 19: “remembered. Remember”
  • Line 20: “peasants; their”
  • Line 31: “say? It”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Lines 27-30: “There is an echo yet / of their speech which was like a song. / It was reported their singing resembled / the flight of moths in moonlight.”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Line 10: “their light hearts turned to stone”
  • Line 16: “laughter is bitter to the burned mouth”
  • Line 25: “When bombs smashed those mirrors”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “Viet Nam / use”
  • Lines 3-4: “ceremonies / to”
  • Lines 6-7: “ivory, / jade”
  • Lines 11-12: “gardens / stone”
  • Lines 14-15: “killed / there”
  • Lines 20-21: “life / was ”
  • Lines 22-23: “paddies / and”
  • Lines 25-26: “mirrors / there”
  • Lines 27-28: “yet / of”
  • Lines 29-30: “resembled / the”

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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  Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “stone?”
  • Line 4: “buds?”
  • Line 5: “laughter?”
  • Line 7: “ornament?”
  • Line 8: “poem?”
  • Line 9: “singing?”
  • Line 10: “stone.”
  • Line 12: “ways.”
  • Line 13: “blossom,”
  • Line 15: “buds.”
  • Line 16: “mouth.”
  • Line 17: “joy.”
  • Line 18: “charred.”
  • Line 19: “Remember,”
  • Line 21: “bamboo.”
  • Line 23: “terraces,”
  • Line 24: “tales.”
  • Line 26: “scream.”
  • Line 28: “song.”
  • Line 30: “moonlight.”
  • Line 31: “now.”

• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

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  Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

  • Lines 13-15: “2) Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom, / but after their children were killed / there were no more buds.”
  • Lines 17-18: “Ornament is for joy. / All the bones were charred.”
  • Lines 22-26: “When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies / and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces, / maybe fathers told their sons old tales. / When bombs smashed those mirrors / there was time only to scream.”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “lanterns of stone”
  • Line 4: “the opening of buds”
  • Line 5: “quiet laughter”
  • Lines 6-7: “bone and ivory, / jade and silver”
  • Line 10: “ light hearts turned to stone”
  • Lines 11-12: “in gardens / stone lanterns illumined pleasant ways”
  • Line 13: “ they gathered once to delight in blossom”
  • Line 15: “there were no more buds”
  • Line 16: “laughter is bitter to the burned mouth”
  • Line 18: “All the bones were charred”
  • Lines 22-23: “peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies / and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces”
  • Lines 25-26: “When bombs smashed those mirrors / there was time only to scream.”
  • Lines 27-28: “There is an echo yet / of their speech which was like a song”
  • Line 30: “the flight of moths in moonlight”

• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

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  Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

  • Line 31: “Who can say?”

“What Were They Like?” 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.

• Reverence
• Inclined
• Ornament
• Epic poem
• Distinguish
• Illumined
• Paddies
• Terraces

• (Location in poem: Line 4: “to reverence the opening of buds”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “What Were They Like?”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“What Were They Like?” Speaker

“What Were They Like?” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “What Were They Like?”

More “What Were They Like?” Resources

• External Resources

  • War Resisters League — The website for the War Resisters League, of which Levertov was a member. 

  • Black Mountain School — An introduction to the Black Mountain poets, who were a significant influence on Levertov's work.

  • An Overview of the Vietnam War — A fairly in-depth overview of the Vietnam War, including a timeline.

  • The Poem Out Loud — A reading of the poem from Literature Today UK. 

  • Leverton's Biography — Read more about the poet and her work at the Ppoetry Foundation.

  • Vietnam War Poetry — A collection of other poems written in response to the Vietnam War.