Question

Grass by Carl Sandburg

Answer 1

1. The Allusions in this poem are all famous historical battle sites. Austerlitz and Waterloo are two famous sites of battles led by Napoleon in the 1800s. Gettysburg is a famous site where there was a pivotal battle during the Civil War. Ypres and Verdun are both places where battles were held during World War I. All of these battle sites mark areas and moments of significant bloodshed, which relates to the overall idea of the poem that even the most gruesome history can be brushed over, and can produce growth. The grass in the poem wishes to cover the death and the darkness left behind by tragedies such as these. 

2. Grass is personified in this poem. It continuously speaks throughout the poem (a human quality), and says "Let me work". Doing work is seen as a predominantly human activity, which also lends to the personification of the grass. 

3. This is mostly an opinion question, but it could either be argued that either:

- Yes, this is contradictory, because there are all of these tokens that cover over the land where this tragic event took place, turning it into a tourist site, rather than a solemn gravesite

or

- No, because these memorial items represent the loss that happened at this site, and pay homage to it, so that the battle and lives lost are not forgotten.