Ungraciously, under
A great soldier’s helmet
A cricket sings
- Matsuo Basho
Though this poem is undoubtedly a statement against warfare, I think there are two ways to interpret it. They are similar, to be sure, but each holds its own value - particularly on the matter of crickets.
The first and more obvious interpretation relates to the indifference of nature towards human warfare. To the cricket, this helmet is nothing more than a convenient shelter, and its song is unbothered.
I suppose the second interpretation doesn’t differ from the first so much as compound it. In our culture (the easiest example is comedy) crickets paradoxically imply silence with their song - their chirps are empty. With this understanding, the cricket's presence seems to symbolize the nature of war: a racket that amounts to nothing. You could take it even further in saying that a cricket doesn't just imply silence, it magnifies it. In this case, war isn't just futile, it is putting on full display the stupidity of human affairs.
Either way, I think this poem rules and crickets are an untapped source of brilliant metaphors.
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