America, America by Saadi Youssef

America, America is a song. God save America, My home, sweet home! is how Saadi Youssef introduces the listener to the situation that the poem describes. The author, an Iranian, is against both Saddam Hussein's regime and the United States' ongoing assaults on Iraqi territory. My opinion is that the author conveys his viewpoint on these conditions through his justifications for the struggles. This sonnet seeks to bring to light the bloody conflict between the United States and Iraq. I'm going to look at word repetition, personification, and connotation use to support these assertions. In this poem, the use of connotation plays a significant role in understanding what the author intends to communicate to us. In the first stanza, Saadi uses ‘God soldiers’ vs. ’soldiers’ to signify the susceptibility of humankind against the divine. The ones that are unbeaten and invincible are the God Soldiers also known as Angels. Another significant connotation is when Saadi uses the word hungry to designate his God. We all know that a god does not have the need for food. Thus, the word hungry is used to represent peace, justice, freedom, or status of his sons who are suffering from the conflicts between the U.S. and Sadam Hussein since innocent lives are lost. As a result of this connotation, we can see terrible living conditions in Iraqi.

Saadi also repeats some words like ‘soldiers,’ ‘gods,’ and ‘drowned’ to demarcate some of the important ideas that he communicates. He uses the word ‘god’ to represent the diversity of gods that exist in his culture. Through the summons to his gods, he illustrates the sufferings, negative energies, and the bad fortune. Conversely, in some parts of the poem, he has used the word ‘soldiers', especially in the last paragraph to oppress the Iranians from the U.S military force. He also uses the word ‘drowned’ to indicate the psychological state of Iraq and what they feel. The Iranians feel that they are drowned owing to the lost lives and agony that they go through.

The implication of personification also plays a crucial role in understanding the poem. For instance, in the second stanza, Saadi used the word ‘lady’ to give hope to America. The implication of giving life to America is to recall the intrinsic and universal values like, peace, compassion, goodness, as well as the right to liberty which is one of the greatest trademark and symbols of the United States of America. When Saadi says “let the water come”, he reminds the audience that there is hope since nothing last forever. In this quotation, water is presented as a universal symbol of life, which is a valuable thing for any individual, and with this notion, Iranians can find their liberty from the oppressors.

Work Cited

"America, America” Poem by Saadi Youssef - Poem Hunter. PoemHunter.com, www.poemhunter.com/poem/america-america-11/.