book he knew about World War II. Barely
remembered as a poet today, Kirstein is best
known for the cultural influence he exerted in
New York City in a variety of artistic endeavors.
Richard Wilbur (1921- ), one of the most prom-
inent American post–World War II poets, wrote
two poems about his war experiences as an infan-
tryman in France and Germany, ‘‘Mined Coun-
try’’ and ‘‘First Snow in Alsace.’’
Critical Overview.
‘‘Losses’’ has attracted some comment from lit-
erary critics, although not as much as some of
Jarrell’s other war poems. Richard Flynn com-
ments in his bookRandall Jarrell and the Lost
World of Childhoodthat the collectionLittle
Friend, Little Friend, in which ‘‘Losses’’ appears,
features ‘‘perpetually adolescent soldiers...who
seem forced into adulthood unprepared, and
regress to infantile states as a defense against
the horrors of war.’’ Richard Fein, in ‘‘Randall
Jarrell’s World of War,’’ an essay in Critical
Essays on Randall Jarrell, selects ‘‘Losses’’ as
one of several poems in which Jarrell
takes a soldier through wounds, fears, deaths,
in order that the soldier will know that he has
undergone some basic suffering because of
which he can no longer deny not only the hor-
rors and bitterness of war but the harshness of
human personality and culture as well.
Sister M. Bernetta Quinn, also writing inCritical
Essays on Randall Jarrell, notes that the airman
in the poem, ‘‘horrified at the contrast between
actuality and the stereotyped war reports, blendsB-29s in flight on bombing mission during WWII(Loomis Dean / US Army Air Services-Pacific Arena Areas / Time Life Pictures
/ Getty Images)
Losses