The Gunner's Lament

"...the Yanks and the Reds taking turns At murdering the poor," is highly satirical and this view point is shown throughout the text. The persona of the poem is mocking a number of aspects of society by the poem half-rhyming, for example in the last words in the second line - "Saigon", semi-rhymes with "man!" in the fourth line. This demonstrates innocence almost, like a child has wrote it, though the message behind it is anything but innocent. The soldier is angry at the treatment of New Zealand soldiers by the hands of their own government who tricked them into fighting in the Vietnam war.

The poem suggests that generally lower class, Maoris are fighting in the war as "a coat and a cap and a well-paid job Looked better than shovelling metal", the concept of "shovelling metal"suggests poor paying jobs and low income earners, while the extensive use of Maori language such as "whare"and "Te Rauparaha" shows that the persona is Maori himself and also, justifying the point that Maoris are a long way from home when fighting in Vietnam and it is not their place to fight.