More Light! More Light! Comments

I have three question More Light! More Light! - Poem by Anthony Evan Hecht: 1. What is the meaning of the word oven as used in the poem? 2. What thematic statement does the poem suggest? And in what different ways is the word light used? 3. Trace all references to light or lack of light in the poem

By creating a comparison between an execution, although awful, performed in a culture that had some sense of purpose and redemption, and an execution in a completely godless, unredemptive context, World War 11 Germany, Hecht demonstrates which is the much more inhuman, desperate, cruel and beyond any hope. A masterful, bitter, brilliant poem.

One of the greatest poems to come out of the Second World War.