The first poem has 7 stanzas. 7 is said to be the lucky number so is Grace Nichols showing us yet another way in that sex is positive? I think that the way in which she has ordered the poem is like the stages in sex. The 4th stanza seems to be the crux of the poem (the main sex image) because it has the line, “you be banana” this gives off the impression that the banana is referring to an erect penis. The first and last stanza seems to emphasize the importance of staying independent once you have sex. There isn’t an obvious rhythm to the first poem and I think that if Nichols possibly made the rhythm stand about more then it could stand for the rhythm in sex? But words are repeated in ‘Even Thou’ and this does create a sort of rhythm. The second poem is a sonnet so the poem keeps to the usual sonnet structure of 4 stanzas, 3 of which have 4 lines, the other only has 2. Every other line rhymes. The rhyme makes the poem more fluent.
The first poet uses words like “hug, carnival, fruit, and love”. These words make me feel happy. Grace Nichols also uses words like “plum”, could she be referring to the inside of a vagina? Other words that Grace Nichols uses are words like “sea moss”, keeping to the main image of sex could she be comparing sea moss with hairy genitals? When Grace Nichols uses these words it makes the reader imagine to feel what she feels when she is having sex, because everything she says appears to be positive. The second poet uses words like “complexion, changing course untrimm’d, and eternal”. The word eternal in particular makes me feel extremely positive because William Shakespeare is saying that this love will last forever, does he mean that in all cases? Shakespeare also uses the word “possession” it seems to be that Shakespeare is saying he owns this woman. William Shakespeare includes loads of metaphors in this poem and unless you are able to understand them then the poem is quite confusing. But with Shakespeare using metaphors he makes the poem more exciting and it’s more revealing when you find the true meaning of the metaphors. He doesn’t seem to include the senses in his poem as much apart from when he says , “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” because you can see this happening in your mind. When Shakespeare uses the “words gold complexion dimm’d” he makes me imagine that the gold complexion of his lover is dimming. But this seems to contradict with the rest of the poem in that, in the rest of it he speaks about her beauty and how as long as men can breathe and eyes can she will be beautiful. William Shakespeare speaks about mortality and immortality because he writes about someone and means that they will live forever in his memory.
The two poems are different in that, ‘Even Thou’ is about sex, and ‘Shall I Compare Thee To A Summers Day’ is about love. ‘Even Thou’ also appears an easier poem to be able to understand. After reading it through a couple of times you are able to understand the general message of the poem. Whilst ‘Shall I Compare Thee To A Summers Day’ appears to be more difficult. Personally I think that I prefer the poem ‘Even Thou’ because it is a more powerful and moving poem and even though you have to look at what some of the words could mean it is easy to understand first time through. The actual poem gives off the message that after sex you need to stay independent and this is shown really well. I did enjoy the second poem but it was too dated and comparing someone to a summer’s day isn’t always that flattering.
Jade Smith
