Li Po was an influential Chinese poet that mainly wrote romantic poems.

He never fought in
the war, but he was an advisor for the Chinese emperor at the time. ‘Nefarious war’ was
written in 750 AD and it shows the realness of war. LiPo wants to show the horrors of war.

The first stanza of the poem describes the past and present events that are taking place. It
also shows the effects of war, an example of this is “Our three armies are worn and grown
old.”

The second stanza starts to get more confronting, it also makes an important comparison
between a beacon and war. In the poem, LiPo compares a beacon to a war by saying “The
beacon fires burn and never go out” This line then concludes with the line “There is no end
to the war.” He compared a beacon to the war because he wants the readers to understand
that the war is not going to end soon.

The third stanza of the poem shows the harshness of the war. In this stanza, LiPo uses
strong and graphic words so that it makes an impact on the readers. This can be seen in the
third line of the third stanza “While ravens and kites peck at human entrails”.

The poem also consists of many poetic devices such as hyperbole, alliteration, and
personification to emphasize the key points and to paint a picture in the reader minds.
Firstly, LiPo used Alliteration in Nefarious war, an example of this is “burning beacon.”
Secondly, personification is also used in this poem, personification can be seen when he
says, “The horses of the vanquished utter lamentable cries to heaven.”