“……………………………….……..his smile Is like an infant’s—gentle, without guile”—bring out the comparison implied here.

Answer:  This extract belongs to Arthur Rimbaud’s poem Asleep in the Valley. This poem tragically describes a dead soldier lying open-mouthed in a beautiful valley. The open mouth of the soldier makes the poet imagine that as if the soldier is smiling. And the poet compares soldier’s smile to the smile of an innocent infant. An infant has no cares for the world and he smiles without any reason. The poet thinks that now like an infant, the soldier is careless about everything as he has no earthly bounds due to his death. The smile of dead soldier may also signify that his death is now better to him than his life. Actually through this irony, the poet mocks at the dishonest warmongers who nip the lives of innocent soldiers in bud.