Elegy for the Native Guards

This elegy consists of four rhymed stanzas of six lines each. A six-line stanza is generally called a sexain. Before the first sexain, Trethewey includes an epigraph, or quotation, from Allen Tate’s “Ode to the Confederate Dead.” This indicates that “Elegy for the Native Guards” is written in response to Tate’s poem.

The first sexain establishes a sense of place. Trethewey uses the plural first-person (“we”) throughout the poem, beginning with the opening word. They are a group touring Ship Island. Their tour begins with a boat ride from Gulfport: Listing specific locations in Mississippi gives the reader a sense of place. The presence of sea birds, specifically “gulls” (Line 1), also develops the setting of the poem. The gulls are described in celebratory terms such as “streamers, noisy fanfare,” (Line 2). This description evokes parades, military reenactments, and fairs, establishing the theme of how history is remembered.

Halfway through the first sexain, the focus shifts to the fort on Ship Island. It has become part of the earth, with a grass roof, and is a “lee” (Line 4), or a shelter from the wind. “Lee” also evokes Robert E.