Summary Of Naming Of Parts By Henry Reed

During my first reading of Henry Reed’s “Naming of Parts,” I was uncertain of the identity of either speaker, though it seemed clear that both an external voice and perhaps a more internal dialogue co-existed. Initially, I was also unsure of precisely what whole item might consist of all the specific parts described in stanzas 2-5. Until I reached stanza 4, I had thought perhaps the poet described, in excruciating detail, a type of garden gate hinge or mechanism. However, in stanza 4, “bolt” (line 19) followed by “breech” (20) more clearly outlined a mental image of a gun; specifically, a rifle. Stanza 5 confirmed this shape in my mind with the term “cocking-piece” (27), at which point I could glance back over the lines of verse and recognize a sensible weapons application for a “safety catch” (13). With this in mind, along with the published date of 1946, the speakers began to take shape as an oddly-polite drill sergeant giving the external monologue, and a distracted pupil (or the collective voice of a distracted class) hearing the instructions, understanding them, and yet still internally yearning to soak in a beautiful spring day in the surrounding gardens.

Japonica is defined as “a Japanese rosaceous shrub… cultivated for its red flowers and yellowish fruit” and “another name for the camellia” (“Japonica”). Again, keeping in mind the year the poem was published, the tactfulness with which the drill sergeant gave instruction, and adding this British-English use of the Japanese name for a flower, the possible setting comes into focus as a military field training exercise located in the English countryside before