poetic aliens??

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. You spend countless hours explaining content and structure of poems, as well as the use of literary devices. Symbolism is another concept to discuss. The days are filled with numerous activities and exercises to prepare them for finals.

Now, I can understand how symbolism can sometimes be lost. Sometimes you just don't fully understand the meaning that some poets are trying to get across. I get that.

The poem in question: "Men In Green" by David Campbell. An exerpt:

Oh, there were fifteen men in green,
Each with a tommy-gun
Who leapt into my plane at dawn;
We rose to meet the sun.
...
We climbed towards the distant range
Where two white paws of cloud
Clutched at the shoulders of the pass;
The green men laughed aloud.
...
Oh, there were some leaned on a stick
And some on stretchers lay,
But few walked on their own two feet
In the early green of day.

They had not feared the ape-like cloud
That climbed the mountain crest;
They had not feared the summer’s sun
With bullets for their breast.
...
And I think still of men in green
On the Soputa track,
With fifteen spitting tommy-guns
To keep the jungle back.


What's the first thing that comes to most people's mind when reading this poem?

Soldiers, perhaps? World War One, perhaps? Or at least some type of war requiring tommy-guns and bullets.

My students?

Wait for it...




ALIENS!

Yes, apparently the "men in green" are from outerspace.

Did these kids even read the poem?

*sigh*