Gruesome Grass: Imperative verbs, Common nouns, And Proper Nouns in Carl Sanburg’s “Grass” Overall the poem entitled, “Grass” written by the speaker Carl Sanburg explores the long history of war and connects them all together with the idea of grass growing in the battlefields. In this poem the speaker is exploring how although seasons change, time passes, and wars eventually end people may never truly heal from the scars wars leave behind. The new grass seldom wipes clean our memories of war. Grass is a remembrance of wars past, the lives taken, and to conclude the battles that have been won and also lost. Primarily, the grass may be regrown but the scars remain in the lives of those affected forever. Carl Sanburg the speaker of Grass uses…show more content… Imperative verbs in this poem are used to express cruelty. In Grass the soldiers are being commanded to pile the bodies of the fallen soldiers. Imperative verbs are also used to describe the uselessness and futility of violence in war. The word pile is used to show a command aimed at the soldiers it states, “Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo” (1). Undeniably, this statement is a reference to the lives that were lost from the battles taking place in Austerlitz and Waterloo, showing how useless violence is due to the many innocent lives taken. Imperative verbs are used to show the uselessness and cruelty of war because it states, “And pile them high at Gettysburg” (3). Without a doubt showing once again how merciless the commands that are given are. Many lives were affected by the wars. Imperative verbs show the harsh commands that the soldiers were given numberless times. In line number 3 it states, “And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun” (4). Without reservation, this shows the futility of violence in war by the usage of imperative verbs. Being commanded incalculable times to pile the dead bodies of soldiers is an all around act of
