A comparison between 2 poems “Lore” written by R.S Thomas and “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou.

A Comparison between 2 poems “Lore” written by R.S Thomas and “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou

Introduction

In this assignment I will be studying in detail the 2 poems “Lore” written by R.S Thomas, and “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou.

Maya Angelou is a remarkable woman who is well known as one of the greatest voices of contemporary literature. She is an eminent poet, educator, historian, best selling author, actress, and civil rights. The list goes on endlessly.

Although not as proficient as Angelou, the welsh poet R.S Thomas is still famous for his 20 volumes of poetry, a career that has expanded for 50 years. He spent his life working as a clergyman in rural Wales. One of his poems was even quoted on the pop phenomenon “Manic Street Preachers” album.

The title of the poem “Lore” suggests that this poem is about traditional culture. Verse 1 describes Job Davies life, despite all the hard work; he is still cheerful this is because he is an optimistic and independent being who follows his traditional cultural ways of life. For example instead of using modern technology to meow the lawn he uses the “scythe”.

In the poem it also suggests that he is against modern technology as it says, “Never mind the machine, whose fuel is human soul”

The weather is portrayed as an enemy, as the metaphor “slow poison” is used, it then goes on describing the old and treachery winter, as it states “winters old”, and “After treachery of the seasons”, overall it is a very pessimistic atmosphere but Job Davies somehow still looks at in a pleasant way as he sates, “its still alive” this also suggests that he is a positive person. In the poem it also describes him sitting on the perch and laughing, as if not a care in the world.

At the age of 85 he is still strong, and confidant, in the poem his age does not reflect his attitude at all. He is enjoying life.

“Peat black dawn found me”, this suggests that Job wakes up early in the morning to start his had work, “Rhythm of the long scythe kept this tall frame lithe”, this informs us that he is quite flexible for a 85 years old, the reason for his flexibility is because he works hard.

Job Davies is his name, which establishes both his identity and personality. Davies being a popular Welsh name, this informs ...

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At the age of 85 he is still strong, and confidant, in the poem his age does not reflect his attitude at all. He is enjoying life.

Job Davies is his name, which establishes both his identity and personality. Davies being a popular Welsh name, this informs us that he is from Wales. Job being a biblical name which is associated with patience. His name is also associated with the meaning of the poem, because overall the poem is about an old welsh farmer, his harsh life and work.

The slow steady rhythm and rhyming couplets reflects Job’s life by making it drags on and on, since the poem is about hard work and jobs, this poem gives that feel of monotonous.

By using these rhyming couplets e.g. “eighty five”, “still alive”, “arse”, “hearse”, and half rhyming couplets, e.g. “poison”, “season”, “off”, and “laugh”.

Job Davies is an incredibly positive and independent man, he uses this powerful tool to conquer and survive his harsh life.

The overall message the poem is trying to show is that, firstly we cannot depend on modern technology and we should respect more of the traditional culture. Secondly it shows that an 85 years old man is still alive, still healthy and most important of all still happy, although he is still using the olden methods. So it kind of proves a point to us that if he can do it anyone can.

“Women Work” is one of Maya Angelou many masterpiece poetry. The outline of the poem is about a slave who wants more in life, other than working all the time; she wants to escape from this environment so much that later in the poem she starts to dream about freedom, how the element of nature would help her flee from this prison that she is in.

Verse 1 begins with a list of jobs, this is mainly because the just of the poem is about “Work”, and it also gives a sense of endless job that needs doing. The fist paragraph also highlights the list of jobs, by adding the Verb to the end so that the attention is drawn to them.

“I” is repeatedly constantly; this is to make the reader aware that it is only her that is doing this long list of jobs. In the first paragraph the poem has a fast peace, there is no commas, full stops, and rhyming couplets.

Lots of the words are monosyllabic, and this speeds up the peace even more.

Gradually in the next 4 verses the pace and rhythm slows down, this is because she is more calm, it is almost as if she has drifted away from this ghastly place, she is dreaming, dreaming of freedom away from the work. “Storm blow me away from here”, “Let me float across the sky til I can rest again”. From these words she seems desperate to get out of here.

From the words used in the last 4 verses, I can almost imagine a picture of her. She appears to be covered in sweat because of the hard work, as the poem states “rain on me, rain fall softly, dewdrops and cool my brow again”. “Storm blow me from here with your fiercest wind”, this tells us that she might be light weighted and thin. She has bulky and tired eyes because she does not get enough rest. Which is again stated in the poem “Let me float across the sky, til I can rest again”

The environment she is in must be a boiling hot place, because she wishes to be covered in icy cold snowflakes.

She also feels lonely because not only she wants the icy cold snowflakes to cover her but also to kiss her.

The last verse “Sun, rain, curving sky…. you’re all that I can call my own”. She says that she owns them; this tells us that these are the only things that she possesses, because they are nature no one can take that away from her, that’s why she calls it her own.

The 2 poems in someway are similar, because the main outline of the poem is about hard work, but the big difference that separates the 2 poems is how they act towards the situations. For example Job Davies is a optimists he respects the traditional methods of doing things, instead of feeling sorry for himself, about the how hard the work is, or how tired he is. He carries on doing the job without complaining. If he was ever tired or miserable he will never show it. Overall he has a positive attitude towards life, whereas in the poem “woman work”, all she can think of is escaping and running away from the environment that she is in. Away from the hard work, she then starts dreaming about how the element of nature might help her do that. In a way she is hallucinating, and thinking impossible things that will never happen, and this is a sign of weakness. Overall she is quite pessimistic, which is completely opposite to Job Davies, and that is the big difference that separates the 2 poems.