Steps Analysis

Rainbow Death

Point of View: The speaker of the poem is the poet himself
Evidence/Elaboration: The author shows what he think of the Vietnam War, and criticizes it. This can be seem from the first line" America did not foresee" which appears that the author is blaming America. The speaker also cannot be one of the soldiers because from " Toll on the innocent and unborn" we can see that the poet is showing sympathy to the soldiers and not complaining himself.

Situation and setting: The situation and setting of the poem could be in a battlefield, with the poet as one of the soldiers. He could be fighting and the poem could be a thought in his mind, blaming America and showing his own opinions of this "Agent Orange".

Language and diction: The poet purposedly capitalised the WILL in "generations untold WILL pay". This is to emphasize on the horrible results when exposed to "agent orange" and how not only the soldier himself will suffer but his future generations will suffer too. The first stanza shows how mistaken America is, they wanted others to pay a high price, however, instead it was a toll on the unborn and innocent too. The second stanza talks about the effects of "agent orange", by using phrases like "deceit continues to spread", shows the vast majority of people who are affected.

In conclusion, this simple poem vividly captures the scenes of how horrible it is to be exposed to "Agent Orange". The poet is able to use rainbow, a pleasant object to contrast with the horrible reality of it.