Armies in the Fire

The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;--
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

Robert Louis Stevenson

This poem is interesting to me because it goes through such a wide range of emotions about a single topic. At the start of the poem, Stevenson talks about a fire as if it were something harmless and beautiful. He uses the word "paints" (6) to describe how the fire illuminates a room. It gives us a sense of warmth and beauty that we might associate with a crackling fire in a fireplace in the middle of winter. But his descriptions start to change. He writes, "Armies march by tower and spire" (9) This makes us think of fire as a more furious and dangerious thing. Also the use of "tower and spire" (9) tells how large the flames can become and gives us a sense of fear. Still later, the descriptions change again. He writes, "Blinking embers tell me true" (17) which makes the fire seem small and insignificant, yet almost old and wise. He is asking them for advice and they may give it to him.

This poem relates to me in a couple of ways. First of all, it reminds me of the life a teenager. The poem talks about such a wide range of feelings and emotions and to me that is similar to what an adolescent goes through. We can, all at once, be "painting," "marching," and "blinking." Also this poem almost seems like a the story of a relationship. Caring and gentle at first. Then passionate and raging before something goes wrong and "the lustre dies" (12). Then there may be a quick resurgence before things are let go and the lovers are left wondering what happened to their relationship.