Camouflaging The Chimera Analysis

The experience of the soldiers of the Vietnam War presents itself within the poems, “Camouflaging the Chimera” by Yusef Koumunyakaa and “A Piece of Sky without Bombs” by Lam Thi My Da. In Koumunyakaa’s poem, the author describes the experience of the American Soldiers as they travelled through the secluded jungles of Vietnam, waiting for the Vietcong to attack. The purpose of this poem is to highlight the experiences of a soldier in Vietnam, rather than just looking in from an outside perspective. In Da’s poem, he speaks about a female soldier, who risks her life to save a convoy during the war. The purpose of this poem is to celebrate the beauty and life of a brave soldier. Through the theme of bravery and distinct imagery of the soldiers …show more content…
This highlights the melancholy mood of the poem as it shows how sad and depressed the author was to know that his brave soldier would no longer be around to protect her country. However, his mood also serves as a small celebration of the life of the soldier, as it shows an acknowledgement of the life she once had. The mood of “Camouflaging the Chimera” and “A Piece of Sky without Bombs” differ as they procure different feelings to the reader, and establish a different reaction to both poems; Koumunyakaa’s poem being very tense and serious while Da’s poem is very melancholy and sorrowful. After analyzing both poems, it is evident that “Camouflaging the Chimera” and “A Piece of Sky without Bombs” both maintain a connection with the Vietnam War and the soldiers that were a part of the war. They both established a similar use of distinct imagery to illustrate the actions of the soldiers during the war and the state of their environment. Despite that the poems employed different types of mood to illuminate the meaning of the poem, they both ended with an ultimate theme of bravery which unites the poems and presents the importance of the soldiers during the