Small Pain in My Chest — POETRY

Small Pain In My Chest – Michael Mack Summary:
 The narrator, himself a soldier, saw a young soldier sitting underneath a tree. He approached the boy, and he beckoned him. It had been a long battle and had lasted throughout the night. Scores of bodies lay on the ground in the morning light. The young soldier had to make an effort to give a smile before he asked for a sip of water which he needed the most. They had been fighting all day and all night without any rest. He had then a small pain in his chest, and he needed a sip of water.
 The narrator noticed a large stain on his shirt. It was a blood stain, his warm blood had mixed in with Asian dirt. The young soldier thought he was luckier than the rest. They had all been killed in the battle. He had only a small pain in his chest. He was feeling weak. He thought he was fatigued, or he was getting old. The sun was shining bright and yet, he was feeling cold. He described that they had climbed the hill. They were two hundred strong. He survived with a small pain in chest. He looked around for some aid, but found that none was left living. He kept on firing, but finally sat down with that small pain in his chest.
 The narrator handed his water bottle to him, and he expressed his gratitude. He gave a smile, the brightest smile that the narrator had ever seen. The young soldier confessed that it seemed silly that a man of his size and zest could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest. He was ashamed of his behaviour. He wondered what his wife would be thinking of her strong and grownup husband. If she saw him sitting there too weak to stand alone, she would be surprised. His mother could not have imagined that he would be sitting there one day with that pain in his chest.
 The young soldier was feeling weaker owing to the loss of blood. He wondered why it was getting dark so soon. The sun was growing dim. The day had just begun. He thought that before he travelled, he would get a little rest. Thus speaking, the boy died quietly from that small pain in his chest. The narrator cried to see all that. He put his arms around the dead soldier and pulled him to his side. As he held him to his body, he could feel their wounds were pressed. The large one was in the narrator’s heart, now pressed against the small one in the young soldier’s chest.
Critical Appreciation:
 ‘Small Pain in My Chest’ is both the title and the important refrain of the poem. This line is repeated half a dozen times. Literally, it means that it is really and insignificant pain in the soldier’s chest. It will subside, and the young man will recover. But the truth is the opposite of the apparent meaning. It is ironic that the soldier who has received a fatal wound in his chest, is himself playing down his pain. The repetition of the line makes the reader feel that it is not a small pain as the brave soldier is trying to make us believe.
 In this anti-war poem, the poet not only brings out the horror of war but also the sad fact that soldiers are butchered on both sides. Still, they are glorified in the name of bravery. The soldiers themselves do not like to let down their dear relatives in showing any sign of weakness even in the face of death. The pain in the chest is deliberately dismissed by the young soldier in such a mood.
Paraphrase:
 A soldier boy was sitting quietly underneath a tree. As I drew near I saw him signalling to me as if to tell me something. As the battle had been prolonged and tough and as it had continued through the night, there were a number of corpses on the ground. These dead bodies lay in deathly quietness even in the morning.
 The soldier said with friendly tenderness that he wondered whether I could be of help to him. He requested for a little water which would quench his thirst. He told me that as the fight had continued throughout the night and he had hardly had any time to relax, he felt exhausted. As such a sip of water would give him relief for he felt a little pain in his chest.
 When I looked at him I knew that during the hostile battle, he had been hit by a bullet. I could see a large blotch of reddish brown blood on his shirt. His blood had been mixed with the dirt on the Asian battlefield and its blemish seemed brownish-red. He said that he was actually not grievously hurt. Rather, he considered himself fortunate enough as the others had been callously killed and they lay dead all around him. He was just suffering a little discomfort because of the little throbbing burn in his chest.
 He then faintly smiled and said that he guessed it must be due to exhaustion. He felt that as he was getting old, he was getting listless and feeble. Though the sun was shining yet he felt cold and this he assumed was due to weariness. He and two hundred unyielding and able- bodied soldiers had climbed up the mountain and had reached the peak. But, it was then at night that there was a blast and he felt stricken by this little pain in his chest.
 He said that he had looked around for some assistant but he found only crevasses full of deceased, lifeless carcasses. He kept shooting at them. He had made his best efforts but eventually he sat down as he felt faint due to the agony.
 He then said under his breath that he was thankful for I had given him my flask. He smiled with gratitude and his face gleamed with thankfulness. He then remarked that it seemed so fool-hardy that an adult like him who was so full of vigour and enthusiasm should feel vanquished and subjugated by this ‘small pain’ in his chest. He further said that he was feeling a bit downcast to think what his wife would think of a man so seasoned and robust, feeling so fragile and powerless sitting under that tree. He wondered whether his mother had ever imagined when he was an infant that he would be one day sitting helplessly in the battlefield with a small pain in his chest; saying this he quietly passed away because of that pain in his chest.
 I cannot recollect what happened after that. I presume I must have wept bitterly. I embraced him and snuggled him close to me. As I clutched him close to me, 1 could feel his bruises press against mine. He had been physically wounded but my anguish and grief was large as compared to his ‘small pain’ in the chest. I was traumatized and heart broken at this shocking happening.
Central Idea:
 The poet wants to bring forth the uselessness of war. They are worthless and brutal. He vividly describes the futile struggle of man against man. There are no winners in war, and there is no reasoning behind lives that are taken. He gives a lucid description of the plight of the soldier and the psychological shock experienced by the narrator who saw him dying. The poet captures the physical and emotional aspect of war. The pain, weariness, disillusionment has been well depicted to bring the theme that soldiers are also human beings. A dying soldier also remembers his wife, mother and family. He is also shocked to see the mutilated bodies and human parts scattered around on the battlefield. The theme of the poem thus is that war might be a glorious affair for some in terms of bravery and nobility but losses in war are hidden from common people but actually war is nothing but gory, brutal and meaningless. We forget that they are like everyone of us. They laugh, cry, worry, they have sweethearts and mothers, loved ones from whom separation gives them pain and affliction. The theme is wonderfully handled and touches the deepest recesses of our hearts.