Compare "Lore" by R.S. Thomas and "Woman Work" by Maya Angelou. How do the poets show their attitude to life and work in their writing?
Compare "Lore" by R.S. Thomas and "Woman Work" by Maya Angelou. How do the poets show their attitude to life and work in their writing?
"Lore" by R.S. Thomas and "Woman Work" by Maya Angelou, both display the poets' attitude towards life and work in their writings. These feelings are portrayed through the characters in the poems. R.S. Thomas' is the more optimistic, Maya Angelou's is the more pessimistic. But they explore both pessimism and optimism.
R.S. Thomas' poem is about an isolated white Welsh hill farmer, who has survived the "treachery of the seasons". Maya Angelou's poem is about an African American cotton picker who is not in anyway isolated but certainly feels that way. I think the woman feels this way because she knows of luxuries she will never have. In my opinion Maya Angelou shows her attitude to life in this poem because she feels isolated in life. However, Job Davies, the man in "Lore" doesn't feel isolated because he does not know of these luxuries, he is more than content with the little he has. I think this portrays R.S. Thomas' feelings about work; he is representing the "typical" Welsh farmer.
In "Lore" R.S. Thomas is the narrator, but Job Davies also voices his opinion when posed the question, "Miserable?", he replies in an emphatic voice "Kick my arse!" In "Woman Work" the woman speaks throughout the poem. To me, it feels as if the woman is speaking out to the reader, in "Lore" it feels as if R.S. Thomas is directing the readers attention towards Job Davies.
The characters couldn't contrast anymore than they do in these poems, Job is a white Welsh hill farmer, the woman is an African American cotton picker. Job likes his job whereas the woman doesn't. They both do the stereotypical work, Job does man's work and the woman, in the poem, "Woman work", does woman's work. Tradition is important in "Lore" the farming profession has been handed down from generation to generation. The tradition has been taken away from the woman because she is not in her home country anymore.
"Woman Work" has five stanzas, the first has ...
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The characters couldn't contrast anymore than they do in these poems, Job is a white Welsh hill farmer, the woman is an African American cotton picker. Job likes his job whereas the woman doesn't. They both do the stereotypical work, Job does man's work and the woman, in the poem, "Woman work", does woman's work. Tradition is important in "Lore" the farming profession has been handed down from generation to generation. The tradition has been taken away from the woman because she is not in her home country anymore.
"Woman Work" has five stanzas, the first has fourteen lines then the rest are all quatrains. I think Maya Angelou has written the poem in this form because the first stanza is a list, it hasn't got any punctuation until the very end of the stanza. This seems pessimistic to me because she includes her children in the list, it seems as if they are a chore "I've got the children to tend", children are not meant to be a chore, children should give joy and happiness to the parents; however, they might not be her children, she might be a slave, therefore the children would be a chore.
"Lore" has five stanzas, all are quatrains, all lines are roughly the same in size.
Nature plays a big part in both of the poems, "Shine on me, sunshine/Rain on me,rain" and "Dawn found me" are only two of many examples of natural imagery. I think this reflects that both poets enjoy nature and it plays a big part in their lives as well as in the characters. Farmers by the very nature of their work have to work in natural surroundings. Job's love for nature is obvious in "Lore".
The image of floating contrasts hugely with the "storm", it is not possible to float across the sky in a storm, this shows the woman's desperation to get away from it all in "Woman Work".
"Woman Work" has a fast rhythm in the first stanza but it then dies down in the rest of the stanzas. Instead of punctuation, words such as, "Then" and "I've" are used to slow the rhythm down in the first stanza. In the first stanza there are rhyming couplets, in stanzas two, four and five, lines two and four rhyme, ABCB. Stanza three doesn't rhyme.
"Lore" has a slow and steady rhythm which reflects Job's job; the punctuation helps to keep the rhythm, "What to do? Stay green. Never mind the machine," from this you can see the poem has a steady beat. There is rhyming couplets all the way through the poem.
"It needs more than the rain's hearse,/Wind drawn, to pull me off /The great perch of my laugh" this is a metaphor, he knows the weather won't cause his death. "Treachery of the seasons" is personification. He uses a rhetorical question at the start of the last stanza, "What to do? Stay green." This shows innocence, leaves go brown and die, whereas he is still green. This statement is simple and powerful.
"Never mind the machine, Whose fuel is human souls." This is a metaphor, because human souls are being compared to fuel. He is against technological development, R.S. Thomas believes that machines are ruining our very being, he thinks our souls are being destroyed by them. He reflects this in "Lore".
Despite the technological development, R.S. Thomas still shows a positive attitude to life and work. The following line depicts this, "What to do? Stay green".
"Dawn found me/Mowing where the grass grew" this is enjambment, used to steady the rhythm. "Live large, man, dream small" this shows juxtaposition, small contrasts with large. "Grass grew" is an example of alliteration which is used in "Lore".
"Woman Work" has not got many metaphors, but it shows tripling when it says "Sun, rain, curving sky".
"Star shine, moon glow You're all that I can call my own" she has nothing to hope for she owns nothing. The woman in "Woman Work" has a pessimistic attitude to life, in my opinion Maya Angelou also shares this attitude with the woman.
In my opinion these poems are trying to teach the reader how hard or simple life is. Each poet offers a different view of life and work. I think Maya Angelou shows strong feelings towards life when she writes "Cover me with white/Cold icy kisses". The new line just after "white" emphasises, in my opinion, that Maya Angelou wants to end racism and racial hatred. The woman is craving not to be discriminated against. She may even want to be white so she could get a better job than being a cotton picker or a slave.
Out of both poems, I like "Woman Work" more because it shows how hard life is for African American women. The way it is written makes the reader sympathetic towards the woman in "Woman Work". It makes the reader think how hard life can be for certain individuals. It moved me how the poem was written; the woman could not own anything; she had no hope; her only solace was nature. "Lore" however shows optimism, it shows elderly people can still enjoy life. Job's work keeps him fit, he enjoys his work. The poem shows a simple life for a simple person.
