Due to these experiences he lived his life, shutting himself off from the chance of love and a family. In the second stanza he says “Believing this I threw away so many gifts – I never let love stay long enough to take root.” This view on love and relationships shows that he has is bitter and upset, and just because he had bad experiences when he was younger; he closed himself off in order not to get hurt. When reading this poem it makes you feel upset because in the last stanza you find out that as an old man he has finally found love and deeply regrets shutting himself out for the majority of his life.
The message at the end of the poem in the last stanza is that you shouldn’t dwell on past experiences and let them change your life. Brian Patten has learnt from his mistake and is trying to warn others about doing the same.
“Once Upon a Time” by Gabriel Okara deals with a lot of the problems traditional African Culture faces when it meets the western way of life. In this poem I have chosen to study the friendly African culture, known by the poet is quickly changed into the material and money obsessed society that he feels the western countries obtain. This poem deals with how society has changed over the years by using various examples. Within the poem, the narrator comments on how cold hearted and two faced the world that he lives in has become, for example, in the second stanza how “they used to shake hands with their hearts”, meaning that in the African culture that he grew up in, a handshake was genuine and it is also the same with, “they used to laugh with their hearts,” and this is an example of how two faced the world has become.
He then goes on to describe the Western handshake in the same stanza, “Now they shake hands without hearts while their left hands search my empty pockets. What he is saying here is that all the handshake is based on greed for money and hasn’t come from the heart, which is where it should come from.
This poem is very similar in terms of how Gabriel Okara and Brian Patten both dislike the world they currently live in. However Okara seems to be more effected by people actions towards him whereas Patten is aggrieved at how people have acted to each other, (by not keeping a relationship). The poems differ because we learn at the end of Patten’s poem that he has got over his original thoughts and moved on whereas Okara has kept his original opinion. The poets also differ over old traditions such, as Patten does not like the tradition of couples in a relationship whereas Okara likes the old tradition of shaking hands with their hearts. The two meanings of the poems are also very different; while Patten’s is to make sure people don’t dwell on old mistakes whereas Okara’s is to revert people back to their old friendliness.
The “Long Distance” by Tony Harrison is about how he could not come to terms with the death of his mother. In the first three stanza’s he talks about how his father could not come to terms with the death, (Though my mother was already two years dead, Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas”) and he makes you feel sorry for him and also gives the impression that he feels sorry for his father. However in the last stanza he lets us know that he too is struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother when it says, “ In my new black leather phone book there’s your name and the disconnected number Is till call,” and we immediately start to feel sorry him as well.
This poem is very similar in a way to Brian Patten’s Sick Equation in the way that they are both deeply effected by their experiences but the main difference is that Patten has managed to get over his ordeal whereas we don’t know if Tony Harrison has. On the other hand Gabriel Okara’s experiences seem to be something that he will never be able to get over unless the world changes which is unlikely and Brian Patten’s and Tony Harrison’s seem to be easier to get over. Their poems are similar in the way that they are both upset because of their experiences with specific people whereas Gabriel Okara’s poem talks about his experiences with people in general. However, unlike Tony Harrison is “Long Distance” Brian Patten seems to be quite bitter about his experiences in his earlier life. Also Brian Patten and Tony Harrison’s experiences seem to be with people close to him whereas Gabriel Okara’s appears to be with the world in general.
In conclusion to this essay I think that Tony Harrison in Long Distance is the poet whose experiences have affected them the most mostly because he has not been to get over what happened to him. However, I also think that Brian Patten is the person who has been shaped by his experiences because he says he wasted the majority of his life on his previous beliefs. It was almost too late before he could correct his mistakes and he had to spend most of his life in solitude before he could finally live happily. Also I don’t really think that Gabriel Okara is too upset by his experiences and that there has been too much ill pleasure because he still meets knew people and so it possible to make new friends.
