Valentine Ackland

"Instructions from England"

This poem is political in nature.  It speaks of a prevailing attitude which never stops to consider the reasons that war exists and forgets the loss of life.  This perspective is one of absolute mental obedience to authority.  The person with this clinging to authority may never stop to question it.  The poem was written in 1936, the year that marks the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.  Ackland specifically refers to this event;

"Spain fought before and fights again,
better no question why;
note churches burned and popes in pain
but not the men who die."


The references to churches and popes can be interpreted as referring to authority figures and to the allegiance which people uphold in their honor while dishonoring their fellows through their own negligence to question the authority figures who send men to war.  The poem has a sarcastic tone.  Ackland ironically instructs the audience to obey without questioning, the conventions and decisions of the powers that be despite the atrocities being committed.  Rather than a paradigm shift, many are content to turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed from the sources of power that they were conditioned to trust and obey in return for their own well being.  To question these paradigms means to face a lack of security and stability.