“This was better than home”
and how she was a hindrance rather than a fun loving character she used to be, perhaps down to Duffy’s growth. Like “My Grandmother” Duffy describes clearly and well in metaphors so you get the idea of exactly it was like within Mrs Tilchers class. Both poems are very similar feel by both ends of the poems a dull, dark and weary mood yet active with both poets expressing their feelings clearly. The poets use the best language possible to get a great sense of uncomfort and upset. In “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” Duffy uses:
“Fractious under the heavy, sexy sky”
This gets a good uncomfortable, hot, sweaty mood to describe adolescence. Duffy also uses words like “thunderstorm” which
Also works very well with a treating feel to it. “My Grandmother” also gets a great feel of discomfort like “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” but perhaps not so cryptic and more straight forward though they are similar. Just like Duffy, Jennings describes very well the antique shop, her Grandmother and her grief well using smells sights which she can identify.
“I felt no grief at all”
So, this proves that the poet feels guilty and is more straight to the point than “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” but gives a good effect of the lonely, sad and wasted life her grandmother has lived. You get a good idea of how her Grandmother felt and the poet herself. You also get an idea of how cruel Jennings is in her poem and that she is perhaps being quite harsh this gives a hard effect to the poem. Duffy use “you” and “your” to get the reader involved:
“You could travel………….…with your finger”
So she has a direct approach almost as if you were there yourself. “My Grandmother” doesn’t do these though with the sensory parts of the poem it also is like you are there. “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” is slightly different to “My Grandmother” as you may have noticed is that it starts of in a happy, exciting and fun mood full of bright and colourful atmospheres this is within the first two stanzas. It describes the adventures Duffy had within Mrs Tilcher’s company such as:
“Travel up the Nile”
This rapidly changes as Duffy remembers the changes and discomfort of adolescence so the mood changes from stanza two to stanza three with uncomfortable feel.
“My Grandmother” and “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” both don’t rhyme though they have a slight rhythm and structure to them. “My Grandmother” sticks all through the poem to ten syllables per line so with six lines in every single verse this is sixty syllables per verse giving you a slight rhythm to the poem. “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” doesn’t follow a syllable pattern but has a slight structure that you can relate to. The poem starts of with long verses of eight lines per stanza in the first half of the poem. With a happy feel in mind making it last and down in the final two stanzas the stanza length shortens to seven lines this also gives yet again a rushed though sense of discomfort, giving the reader an idea of how uncomfort the poet must of felt. Duffy uses blank verse, therefore it has no obvious rhyme scheme unlike “My Grandmothers” ten syllable pattern. So this time “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” uses its stanzas to bring over the effect of her childhood and adolescence. So, both poets use different types of structure and form to their poem, yet they are so similar in other ways.
Both the poets show great imagery in both of their poems whatever methods they use though it is one of the two poem’s differences. Just how “My Grandmother” uses simple uses of structure and form it also does the same in imagery though it is very effective. This simple imagery is clear and simple picture and image so you don’t have to get your head round the description. Like the “Long narrow room” Jennings describes. So “My Grandmother” is a simple easy to read poem. The poem also involves the smells and sights of the poem and the subjects as I mentioned early such as:
“The place smelt old…………..the smell of absences……………
reflection”
This is as I explained earlier a way of getting a real sense of the poem and so you can image the way in which Jenning’s Grandmother lived. Jennings also used her wording well like using the term “narrow” to give an idea of enclosure as if the Grandmother is sealed of from the rest of the world.
“In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” uses a more different complicated and complex use of imagery unlike “My Grandmother” but still has a clear and pure effect. Duffy uses many main types of imagery such as metaphors and personification. An example of one of the metaphors used is:
“a skittle of milk”
This gives you a clear outline of the milk bottle that she describes in the first stanza and there are many scattered through out the poem. This is a great use of imagery as it gives you the best possible idea of the milk and other objects used in the poem. She also makes more metaphors within the poem such as the comments of tadpole’s change from commas to exclamation makes. She then mentions this particular metaphor later in the poem to show the change to frogs (“jumping and croaking”). This quote could as mean the males voice chance in adolescence. Duffy also uses personification also which she uses well to get her objects in the poem a good real effect and idea of what’s happening within the poem. She uses:
“The laugh of a bell”
This gives a great idea to feel the children’s laughter in the poem. The poem is not completely sensory but Duffy does describe sights around her in the classroom in great detail, which are shown below:
“glowed like a sweet shop”
and
“Coloured shapes”
This also adds to the great exciting feel of the classroom and is used effectively in the second stanza. There is also one other important feature within the poem whether its imagery or not. It’s written below:
“A xylophone’s nonsense”
There are a few meanings for these three words in the poem. Firstly it might perhaps mean that the xylophone is not being played well, not with a pattern or tune therefore it sounds like nonsense, as it is not making any real sense at all. Or perhaps more linked with the happiness and fun of Mrs Tilcher’s classroom. It is linked to this as it is seen as nonsense because as it is being played in another room therefore it is a complete hindrance to Mrs Tilcher’s pupils as it has nothing to do with tat particular lesson. There are a few more pieces of imagery within the poem she uses the weather and the seasons to help her describe moving on such as:
“That feverish July”
Jenning’s “My Grandmother” seems to be talking to a friend almost as if she is being interviewed about her feelings, what she knew and felt about her Grandmother and her shop also the way she lived her life. I believe the poet may be speaking to a friend as it is quite a detailed and personal experience. I think that she is truly talking about a real and true event within her life and is honest about her real feelings. This is because she mentions I many times through out the poem but really you just need to look at the title “My Grandmother”. We have already discussed that Jenning’s has no real feelings for her Grandmother so has no grief, yet she seems guilty and wished she never refused as she has to live this decision for the rest of her life. You also get the feeling Jenning’s has been cruel and harsh to her Grandmother and should have let her feelings come second. Jennings does well to give a good description with a missing/invisible partner.
“In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” is quite similar to “My Grandmother” in that both Duffy and Jennings describe personal feelings, things that have played on their minds and will remain to for the rest of their lives. In “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” you can be sure that Duffy is talking about her own experience it seems detailed and personal as she describes clearly and knows almost exactly what the conditions and how she felt are like. In “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” Duffy seems to be talking to a friend like “My Grandmother” though it doesn’t seem as if she is being interviewed as this seems a subject you wouldn’t really like to be asked and seems as she is speaking freely. I have already gone over Duffy’s feelings in the poem that she is happy in the first half and angry and feels betrayed in the second.
As I have now explained all almost all the differences and similarities within the two poems there is one thing left, the impact of the poems on the reader. The poems are different in the way the reader first feels about the poem. I believe that Jennings in “My Grandmother” is being too harsh and despite her feelings she should have gone out with her Grandmother. Though I believe that the poem is harsh I enjoyed reading the poem as it is perhaps been one of the best descriptions of a particular person I have read. The ways she puts through the ideas and the descriptions are excellent and the way it is put together is also good. “In Mrs Tilcher’s Class” is also a great descriptive poem and reminds me of Primary School the things we did and the atmosphere Duffy describes this so well its just how I remember to be. Duffy is intelligent in the ways she brings a cross every aspect of the poem now I understand it exactly it also it a great poem. Duffy is good in the way she describes especially the uncomfort of adolescence. All together they are both detailed poems and are intelligently produced.
Thomas Sutton 10HE
