In the poem 'The Affliction of Margaret', Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. Compare Wordsworth's approach to this theme with two other poems, one by Heaney and the other by Clarke.

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In the poem ‘The Affliction of Margaret’, Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. Compare Wordsworth’s approach to this theme with two other poems, one by Heaney and the other by Clarke.

In this essay I will examine how William Wordsworth’s approach to the theme of parent and child relationships in the poem ‘The Affliction of Margaret;’ compares with Seamus Heaney’s ‘Follower’ and Gillian Clarke’s ‘Catrin’. I will examine how these poems show distance between the parent and child as well as the use of imagery, tone, language, structure and poetic devices throughout them.

In ‘The Affliction of Margaret’ William Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. In the same way in ‘Catrin’ Gillian Clarke writes of the friction between her and her daughter as she matures and wants to break free from the bond they are joined by. However, in contrast, Seamus Heaney’s ‘Follower’ describes a son who is immensely proud of his father and is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps. Although on the other hand, the last stanza depicts the son’s desire to be free from his Father, because as he has grown older, he has become weak and dependant on his son; hindering him from achieving the things that he wants to and leaving the son feeling bitter towards his Father.

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The imagery used by William Wordsworth in ‘The Affliction of Margaret’ is quite depressing. He uses many images of darkness, which leads the reader to link this with themes of death and evil. It has a very negative effect; “Was ever darkness like to this?” This imagery analyses the Mother’s fears, she is worried about his whereabouts and what might have happened to him. This quote suggests that her fears are greater than darkness.

This contrasts with the other poems ‘Follower’ and ‘Catrin’ as the imagery has a more positive effect. For example in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Follower’; “His shoulders ...

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