Kamikaze

• Her father embarked at sunrise
• a shaven head full of powerful incantations
• one-way journey into history
• little fishing boats strung out like bunting om a green-blue translucent sea
• dark shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled towards the sun
• a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.
• nor did she meet his eyes
• And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die.
• to live as though he had never returned
• There is a shift in narrative when the narrative changes to her personal experience of war and its effects.
• The poem is a written in a first person perspective
• The speaker references 4 generations (children, speaker, father, grandfather) to show that the conflict will impact each generation
• There is lots of patriotic imagery such as 'her father embarked at sunrise' and there is even patriotism within nature 'like a huge flag'
• The final word 'die' creates a sense of futility and inevitable fate. The father was destined to die one way or another. Garland may be suggesting that conflict/war/patriotism denies humanity the enjoyment of life and nature.
• The poem is structured into tightly controlled stanza of lengths of 6 lines. May represent the order and obedience expected of a soldier.
• Structure is juxtaposed by free verse and enjambment. Shows the soldier's desire for freedom and life.