Just looking at both poems, you can see that ‘Old Father’ has more written and descriptive than ‘Island Man’. But both men have described and explained their wishes and reasons behind missing their country.
Hugh Boatswain describes ‘Old Father’ as real life story. He describes his passion, his feelings as much as he can. He has got a lot of subjects that he brings up; to make the poem realistic, he makes the poems come toward the audience and gives life to the poem. In the four stanzas he mentions the atmosphere in England first then he compares it to his motherland. He has spent so much time in England he has not forgot his native country. But he does think that he has forgotten about in root where he came from.
Old Father: His roots have not meaning now.
Most of is life he tried to become an English man, he tried a lot of time to blend and get connection with the white people, but everywhere were he turned around he got looked or commented on. He even tried to get used to the atmosphere and the people around him but he had no luck.
Old Father: They don’t like serving black people
Or
And his suit, cream and beige
Never anything dark.
The two quotes above are representing how hard he tried to be an English man. The first quote is saying, he went to pubs down the down the road and the bar man/lady wont not serve him because he’s black.
‘Island Man’ is formatted in a different way compare to ‘Old Father’. The poem is about an ‘Island Man’. Grace Nichols has tried to compare her feeling with the ‘Island Man’. The poem is short and clear when reading it. It is also easy to understand because it’s short.
The ‘Island Man’ can hear sounds of birds and the sea from his motherland.
Island man: Morning and island man wakes up
To the sound of blue surf in his head
The steady breaking and wombing.
The quote above is representing how he can here the sound of wonder when he wakes up in the morning. He can hear the birds singing and the waves crashing with each other. Take the word wombing from the text. The word wombing come from the Latin word womb, meaning a womb on a pregnant lady. This is also meaning that he feels like he is born every morning back in his country.
‘Island man’ starts off with positive images, but when reading down the page he starts to get negative. He starts taking about his own motherland and how it was when he was there, but then slowly starts to take about England and says negative things.
‘Island man’: Another London day.
The quote above is representing how its does not really matter because its another day in London. He is saying that is not the same as his motherland. He thinks is going to be the same old day as every day in England.
‘Island Man’ never made the effort to be an English man, were as ‘Old Father’ made a lot of effort to blend in with the white people and to become English man. The poet in ‘Island Man’ did not talk about how he tried to be an English, but most about what he dreamed of every night and how dull England was. Te reason she done this because she left the audience in suspense, she also wanted to make the audience to think how he tried to become an English man.
‘Old Father’ tried to everything that white person would do, but where ever he goes he still gets silly remakes. ‘He ‘s a example to his people’. ‘Old Father’ is not very happy remakes like this when he trying to make the effort of being an English Man. Remarks like this make him go back, and he is hoping to go back.
The poem ‘Old Father’ has got simple wording but isn’t proper English. It got Standard English, but with a Caribbean accent. The words are and spelt differently in Caribbean accent. There are some spellings, which are written how they are pronounced.
Old father: ‘man, a tekkin’ ‘de nex boat back home’
The quote above is representing that he has not used Standard English here. This how he speak. This is showing that he has not lost he culture and his mother tough. There are few grammatical errors for third person singular number, are seen in the poem. That’s because it’s written in a Caribbean accent.
Old Father: ‘Old Father feet begin to shift’
Or
‘He don’t say ‘Hello’ no more’
In ‘Island Man’ there all Standard English used. There is not Caribbean accent in this poem. This is showing that he has living in England for so long that he has forgot his mother tough. The language is connected to the grammar of the poem. Reading through the poem there are no full stops or comers etc. The expression of the poem isn’t direct as ‘Old Father’. It is directly and clearly written and said. There aren’t any different kinds of spellings or grammatical rules in this poem.
The poem is expressed and every line is represented with powerful feelings from the heart.
I liked both poems they were very different and superior. I liked it because I was fun and enjoyable to read. I liked ‘Old Father’, more because it was how a Caribbean Man was trying to be an English Man. Both of the poems were great to read. The second would have been better if it was longer and more about how be became an English Man. Both poems were both interesting to read and found it very fascinating to read.
