Analysis of the poem "Rainbow Death"
1. Point of View

The voice of the poet is dramatised. This is evident from "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri". The poet listed the colours, "green, pink, purple" to emphasise on the different types of chemicals used and each had their negative effect on people. This presented chemical warfare in a dramatic way. "Death potpourri" makes it more dramatic as it showed that the chemicals not just had negative effects on the people, but it can and it will led to death.

It is also evident from "Generations untold WILL pay". The intentional making of the word "will" in caps show the exaggeration and emphasis on this word. This is to show that even people that are borned after the war will suffer from the war as well. The poet was particular sure of that from the word "will".

2. Situation and Setting

Social conflict between the Vietnamese and the American. This is evident from "omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn". The Americans thought that they have unlimited power and could do what they want to the Vietnamese, mostly whom were innocent. They disregarded the sufferings that would occur just because of an instant release of the gas.

There is also emotional conflict in the poet. He was an American yet he criticised America for killing the innocent. Furthermore, he was one of the personnel involved and sent to Vietnam. The criticism is obvious in "nefariously America led astray". He criticised America for being extremely wicked and evil.

3. Language/ Diction

The use of the word "potpourri". Potpourri actually is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material. "Potpourri" is often used to refer to any collection of miscellaneous or diverse items. The word "pourri" means rotten. This implies that because of the chemicals, a lot of people died and the corpses start to rot. This resulted in a "mixture" of people who died, ranging from children to the eldery.

The use of the word "innocent". This emphasises the fact that the Americans are killing the innocent who was not harmful in any ways or did not offended them. They are not of any danger to them so why do the Americans still kill them. Furthermore, using chemicals like that causes the unborn to suffer as well, which were free of evil or any sin. The word "innocent" also shows that negative side of Americans and they were oblivious to the suffering of the innocent.

4. Personal Response
I agree very much with the poet. War is a harsh and cruel thing and we should try to avoid war as much as possible. War does not solve any problems. In fact, it causes more problems and suffering to the people, the government, the victim, the offender, etc. It is a lose-lose situation for both sides. Nobody would benefit from war and it is not worth it to start a war. One's decision can cause a lot of harm to millions and millions of people.