Compare the Way Three Poets Discuss Different Cultures 'Lawrence Ferlinghetti' is comparing the differences between cultures within the society, in his poem 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful in a Mercedes',
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Introduction
Compare the Way Three Poets Discuss Different Cultures 'Lawrence Ferlinghetti' is comparing the differences between cultures within the society, in his poem 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful in a Mercedes', However Imtiaz Dharker, describes the hardships that our culture does not have to endure. In the poem 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols, the poet describes the surrounding of the Caribbean island man showing the differences between his culture and the London culture. 'Blessing' starts with a simple statement, 'There is never enough water', and shows what it is like to be without water whereas in our culture water is there when we need it, straight from the tap. The poet imagines water; it is so special that Imtiaz Dharker uses an extended metaphor to compare water to god; this tells us how precious water is in their culture unlike our culture where we take water for granted. When a water pipe bursts, we are shown how the community responds: they collect as much water as possible. The children enjoy the water and play in it. ...read more.
Middle
Ferlinghetti contrasts the people in various ways. The wealthy couple are On their way to the man's place of work, while the "scavengers" are coming home, having worked through the early hours. The couple in the Mercedes are clean and cool; the scavengers are dirty and dingy. But while one scavenger is old, hunched and with grey hair, the other is about the same age as the Mercedes driver and, like him, has long hair and sunglasses. The older man is depicted as the opposite of beautiful - he is compared both to a gargoyle and to Quasimodo (the name means "almost human") the main character in Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. On the other hand the poem 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols opens with daybreak, as the island man seems to hear the sound of surf - and perhaps to imagine he sees it, since we are told the color. This is followed by simple images: the fishermen pushing their boat out, the sun climbing in the sky, The island, emerald green. ...read more.
Conclusion
There are a few rhymes and repetitions. Grace Nichols also refers to color - blue for surf (surely an error - the surf is the white foam of the blue sea), emerald (green) for the island and grey for the traffic. The form of the poem is striking on the page - Ferlinghetti begins a new line with a capital letter, but splits most lines to mark pauses, while he omits punctuation other than hyphens in compound-words, full stops in abbreviations and occasional ampersands (the & symbol). In the poem 'Blessing' we have a clear sense of the writer's world - in her culture water is valued, as life depends upon the supply: in the west, we take it for granted. This is a culture in which belief in "a kindly god" is seen as natural, but the poet does not express this in terms of any established religion (note the lower-case "g" on "god"). She suggests a vague and general religious belief, or superstition. The poem ends with a picture of children - "naked" and "screaming". The sense of their beauty ("highlights polished to perfection") is balanced by the idea of their fragility, as the "blessing sings/over their small bones". ?? ?? ?? ?? Homework Ibrahim Dan Hammed 10BA 04/05/2007 ...read more.
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