Question

In "Vergissmeinicht," what theme is suggested by the lines, "For here the lover and killer are mingled/who had one body and one heart"?

Answer 1

There is a kinship with the dead German soldier and his English killer

Step-by-step explanation:

In the poem "Vergissmeinnicht," the author Keith Douglas makes reference to English soldiers who return to the battleship where they foough three weeks ago. There lies the decomposing body of a German soldier killed in the combat, together with a photograph of his girllfriend on which she has written "Vergissmeinicht," the German version of Forget Me Not. Thus, Douglas intends to describe the unnecessary brutality and bloodshed of war.