‘Come on, Come back’ by Stevie Smith – poem story

Vaudevue, a female soldier is fleeing for her life across the feilds of Austerlitz after escaping ‘ML5’, possibly a form of extermination gas. Despite escaping, she is not entirely sane. She sits on the ground on a rock, on a hummock, and taps the ground. She flees across rutted meadows to a lake, where she takes off her clothes and plunges into the water. She follows the moons reflection, and as she swims she cries.She is then pulled under by an undercurrent, and drowns.

On the shore of the lake, one of the enemy sentinels finds the pile of Vaudevue’s discarded clothes, and waits for her to return.As he waits, he whittles a Shepard pipe from a reed. At dawn, the sentinel is still waiting for Vaudevue to return, and he has finished his pipe. He plays the song, ‘Come on, Come back’ – favourite of all troops, favourite of Vaudevue, who had sung it while marching to Austerliz. However, she cannot hear it, as she is in the lake, dead.


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One response to “‘Come on, Come back’ by Stevie Smith – poem story”

  1. Christopher Waugh Avatar

    You have a very strong voice in your writing, Alex, and express yourself with fluency and confidence.

    I think it would be fascinating for you to have a look at Alfie’s response to the poem as this project progresses.

    What did you make of the parts of the poem that appeared to be in conflict with other parts?

    CW

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