Song Of The Battery Hen Poem Analysis

Tutor Marked Assignment I: Comparing Poems

The two poems, Song of the Battery Hen (Edwin Brock), and Naming of Parts (Henry Reed) can very easily be compared and contrasted. Despite the apparent lack of similarities, when you carefully study them, they both are a fine example of irony and satire. In both, we see what the person speaking has (eg. a nice, expensive, pen), and what they haven’t got (eg. freedom or nature). The first poem is written in the persona of a battery hen brought up in a cramped pen. The hen is uncomplaining: in effect, she says ‘I can’t grumble’. She doesn’t seem to know that she will very soon be eaten! This reflects on people in society that choose not to have freedom. The hens, and those people, are unquestioning.

The second poem is written in the persona of a military instructor showing new recruits all the features of a rifle. In each verse, the persona switches to a recruit in the second half of the fourth line. This recruit seems to be thinking about anything but what he is being told by the instructor... in each verse, he mentions nature, ‘which in our case, we have not got’: ie. the lack of nature! The poet seems to comment on the fact that war simply destroys nature for no good reason. Another issue that should be considered is that both poems have a persona that is just a tiny gear in a massive machine – one hen out of millions, and one man out of thousands. One possible link to the themes is individualism – both poets comment on one specific individual, seemingly unimportant,

Japonica is a red-flowered Japanese shrub. It is flowering; spring has come. Japan was the enemy at the time, but Reed is saying that nature transcends war and borders. Another thing that could be noted is the recruit thinking of the blossoms. They don’t have any ‘safety catch’, even though they are ‘fragile’! These details show that spring has come; spring is the time when nature begins to show life again. Despite the ongoing war, spring had come, and so would peace! One thing that struck me in Song of the Battery Hen was the farm seen in Stanza 3. It sounds beautiful and picturesque. It is a marked improvement on the dull, though ‘dry... warm’ pens! However, the hen seems content... and ignorant of her ultimate fate in a short time!

Finally, there is little imagery in the poems. The rooster is said to be ‘as tall and proud as the first hour of sun’. He is in the farm, living in even better conditions! In the second poem, Japonica is compared to glistening coral. However, it does not have much of an effect apart from making the poems more enjoyable to read. The mood of the first poem is contented and happy, and the tone is cheerful. However, in the third stanza, it begins to be more wistful and sad. The second poem has a dull, rigid mood and a military tone. I could not detect any symbols in either