The+Bohemians

== =‘The Bohemians’= =Ivor Gurney=

A bohemian is someone who is unconventional, rebellious and does not conform. The poem discusses the different people who join up to the army, satirizing the punishments the soldiers received for not wearing the correct uniform. The individuality of the soldiers is erased.

The soldiers who “burnished brasses, earned promotions” (i.e. the soldiers who conformed to the army rules were promoted). However, as the poem progresses, the speaker suggests that the soldiers no longer need to worry about conforming or not conforming as they eventually “died off one by one”: “In Artois or Picardy they lie – free of useless fashions” (i.e. ultimately conforming proved “useless”)

IMAGERY AND LANGUAGE
“Barely escaping hanging, indeed hardly able” **Alliteration** + **exaggeration** //The poet satirizes the punishments for not wearing the correct uniform// “others burnished brasses, earned promotions” **Alliteration** //Emphasises the action of polishing brass as an act that “earned promotions”// “While others argued of army ways, and wrenched / What little soul they had still further from shape” **Alliteration** //The use of alliteration reinforces the message of these lines – that conforming to army ways was soul destroying.//

STRUCTURE
“The Bohemians” is written in only two sentences, the first encompassing 14 out of the 15 lines of the poem. The rhythm of the poem is broken up mid line, creating a sense of the poem as an accumulative list and producing a casual tone.

THINKING POINTS

 * 1) Why is the conversational and casual tone of the poem deceptive?
 * 2) What kind of individuality is stamped on the bohemians?