"The Influenza"

Paper Summary:

The paper examines Winston Churchill's poem, "The Influenza", which describes how the disease is almost unconquerable, until at last some supernatural power acts to save the human race from complete annihilation. The paper discusses how symbolism can either be used in terms of its general connection in the collective social mind, or it can be used in a new sense that is revealed by the work itself. The paper illustrates how several words and phrases are used in both these ways.

From the Paper:

"Churchill opens his poem with a number of questions pertaining to the cruelty of the disease he is describing. The questions themselves could relate to the uncertainty of those who contract the disease, as well as to those who remain behind. In the line "It journeyed with the sun", the sun is used in a different symbolic association than is normally the case. In general language, the sun is usually symbolic of happiness and joy. In the poem however it acquires a more sinister association. Specifically, the sun appears to signify the inevitability and universality of the disease. The sun travels everywhere and eventually reaches everyone on earth. This traveling process also foreshadows Churchill's assertion later in the poem, that nobody, regardless of status or wealth, is safe from infection. The disease, like the sun, does not discriminate."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Billings, Molly. "The Influenza Pandemic of 1918". June, 1997. http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
• The Churchill Centre. "The Collected Poems of Sir Winston Churchill". 2006. http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=463
• W.W. Norton & Company. "The nineteenth century: Realism and Symbolism". http://www.wwnorton.com/nawest/content/overview/realism.htm

More papers on "The Influenza":

• Term Paper # 148052 : "The Influenza Pandemic of 1918"
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