Both girls feel betrayed by their partner and emotionally bruised by their experiences that occur during the poems.
In Both poems the atmospheres are similar but at the same time they are very different. In both poems there is a feeling of betrayal and bitterness.
In “Manwatching” betrayal is portrayed through the line “ my eyes burn into your back”. It shows the jealousy. She has to watch him so closely her eyes are burning into him. The bitterness towards the girl is made clear in the line “bye I said frostily”. The word frostily shows how unfriendly and unwelcoming her tone of voice is, which suggests how she feels towards the girl.
In “First ice” the atmosphere is cold and lonely. The cold is shown through the repetition of words that represent cold such as “ freezes” “ice and “icy”. The line “she’ll have to go home alone, alone” represents the lonely feeling an the repetition of alone just emphasises this feeling. Using the alliteration “human hurt” shows the feeling of hurt. The writer uses this to create emphasis and the whole poem leads up to those last two final words.
In “Manwatching” the feelings are of anger, betrayal, stress and bitterness. The anger and bitterness are towards the girl and the betrayal is against her boyfriend. The betrayal is shown “ you turn to meet my accusing stare” accusing shows what she is doing and blaming him for cheating and lying.
In “Manwatching” the techniques Georgia Garrett has used are personification and metaphors. In the line “ my insides shout with rage”. This makes something that can’t shout do this by personifying and bringing them to life. This is effective and interesting as it brings the poem to life a bit and makes you feel more involved with it as you can relate to how she is feeling and the anger inside her. Alliteration is used in the line “burn into you back”. It shows how hard she is staring at him. This is also personified as her eyes would never actually burn his back. It creates emphasis on the line.
In “First Ice” by Andrei Voznesensky the techniques that have been used are repetition and alliteration. The repetition is when he says “alone, alone” is emphasising that she is on her own and creating a sense of loneliness and isolation. The alliteration is in the last line “human hurt”. This sums up the whole poem and it is what it is all building up to. It tells you why she feels as she does. The alliteration is used so that u recognise this and not just skim it as it is the end of the poem.
The structure of the two poems is very different. In “Manwatching” it is in one long verse-paragraph. This is because it is happening over a long period of time. The lines start off short get longer towards the middle and then get shorter again at the end. I think this is because the middle is where everything happens. Long lines like “I can’t see your face, but you are mesmerised I expect” draws attention to it and to the whole section because it draws your eye and stands out against other shorter lines. IT makes the time that it happens in slow down as if everyone else has frozen but she is still there watching him. She is as “mesmerised” by the two of them as they are each other. The short lines like “watching her” and “so we go” shows her actions, “I think not” the shortest line of the poem sows how she feels and what she is thinking and it is a stronger statement than saying “I don’t think so” it creates a sense of sarcasm and you can tell that she would say it with a mean, sarcastic harsh tone of voice.
In “First ice” the structure of the poem is more fragmented to reflect how she is feeling, It shows her emotions are broken up and in pieces. Its has been split up in two four blocks the first being the longest with six lines. I think this is because it is describing her and what she is like. It is a build up of what is to come. The second block is only two lines long and creates a sense of loneliness. In the third block it is showing how it is the first time by using repetition of “First ice”. In the last two lines it tells you what is the first time and is also describing her. In this poem there aren’t any particular lines that stand out as the poem is capturing one moment not a period of time, so nothing needs to be dragged out unlike in “Manwatching”. IN the last three sections of the poem there is one longer line and one shorter line. This draws attention towards it as there are large gaps between and a difference in lines.
Both poems are similar because they are about betrayal and bitterness “bye I say frostily” This is showing how cold she feels towards the girl and how bitter she feels.
In “First ice” the only mention of how she is feeling is in the line “ a face all smeared in tears and lipstick, although this isn’t a direct mention you can tell that she has been crying and upset. You can imagine if you put yourself in her situation that is how you would feel. In both poems there is a feeling of hurt displayed in “first ice” with the alliteration of “human hurt” This is different to “Manwatching” as in “First ice” its it the first time it has happened to her and the repetition of “First ice” and “first” shows this and making a reoccurring point about it whereas we no its happened before in “Manwatching” as the writer uses “ I can predict you: I know this scene well”. This is putting across she knows what’s happening and the fact that the writer left that section on one line suggest she wants to draw attention and to make you think why she put it like that, bringing you into the poem more and making you involved
The poems also have many differences like the structure of the poems. “Manwatching” is in one long verse-paragraph to show it is over a period of time and even though it may only be half an hour it is dragged out and seems like it is forever. In “First Ice” it is short and broken up into chunks as it represents one short moment in time and is structure in a broken up manor so show her emotions. In this poem there is not plot or story line, which is what tells you that it is not a space of time.
In “First ice” there is no reference to an actual person whereas in “Manwatching” it is all based around this other person who isn’t described but mentioned. Both poems are written from different perspectives. In “Manwatching” she is narrating the poem. In “First ice” the writer is observing at a distance highlighting her isolation and loneliness.
In “First ice” the relationship is over for definite whereas in “Manwatching” it is coming to an end. You can tell this because it says how it has happened before. In “first ice” the girl isn’t familiar with the emotions she is going though as opposed to in “Manwatching” where she is familiar with those feelings and the situation she is dealing with. “I know this scene so well” Puts across how she is used to it and that she knows what is going on. The girl in “Manwatching” is at a party so obviously se will have her friends around her but in “First ice” she is on her own. Both feel lonely in their situations but the girl in “First ice” she has no one to speak to or to help her.
In “First ice” the poem is written in a way that we have to guess what has happened. It doesn’t tell a story like the other poem does. You know exactly what has happened in “Manwatching”. The scene has been set out for the reader. In “first ice” you don’t know exactly what is going on so leaves it to your imagination. “Manwatching is written from inside the girls head so shows her point of view.
The two poems are both about love, hurt and betrayal. I thought that the poem by Andrei Voznesensky had a stronger impact on me because it made me think and become involved with the poem. I think that the emotions are stronger. The girls feelings are of hurt. In “Manwatching” the feelings are of anger.
Because both poems are written in different ways both are effective because “Manwatching” is a story it tells you what is going on and involves you in that way whereas in “First ice” it is the complete opposite and all you know about the setting is that its in a phone box in the cold so you are left to use your imagination making you think and making you involved. “first ice” makes you think so in my opinion is better and involves you more. For me it creates a stronger sense of reality and more people can probably relate to what it happening in “first ice than in “Manwatching”.
