Comparing I Coming Back & Where The Rainbow Ends

Authors Avatar

In this essay I will be comparing two poems. One poem by Grace Nichols, the other by Richard Rive. They are both trying to portray a similar message but in very different ways. I will compare the mood, voice, dialect, theme, line length, repetition, imagery and the message of both poems. I will also look at the similarities and differences n both poems.

        ‘I Coming Back’ by Grace Nichols is a dead black slave speaking from the underworld. She is haunting and threatening her Master making sure she gets revenge and he knows it.

        ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ by Richard Rive is a song to unite all races. It’s the sad reality of segregation in the world and how it can be removed.

        The mood in both poems is totally different. The mood in ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ is friendly and happy. This is shown when the poem reads

        “But we can learn, brother, you and I.”

This is politely spoken, in Standard English and is well mannered. This is very cheery and sends a positive felling in the readers mind.

        The mood in ‘I Coming Back,’ however, is very threatening, dark and scary. The speaker is suggesting some consequences of her owner’s previous actions by saying

        “Bone in yuh throat

 laugh in yuh skull

 I coming back”

This, in contrast to the first poem, is very negative and has a mood which is very definable from the start.

Join now!

        In the two poems both speakers are black. They are both probably talking to white people too. In ‘I Coming Back’ the speaker is a black female slave talking to her probably white ex-master. The speaker says

        “I coming back Massa

        mistress of the underworld

        I coming back.”

This shows the speaker is a female because she says mistress which means lady. She is speaking ex-master because Massa is a Guyanese word for master.

        In ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ it’s a black person speaking to a white person. The speaker says

        “You and I, though you’re white and ...

This is a preview of the whole essay