Similarly, in ‘Easter Monday’ Eleanor Farjeon allows us to empathize with her and feel the emotions she felt for Edward Thomas. She comments on the things they did together, “we sowed our earliest seeds.” This shows us that his death has not really hit her yet as she remembers how it was when he was alive. It is almost as though she does not want to move away from her memories and accept that he is dead.
In ‘I am’ we are able to understand how John Clare feels that “even the dearest, that I love the best, are strange.” He feels isolated and does not know those who are closest to him. He also suggests that his friends, who, “forsake me like a memory lost”, have abandoned him. Here he questions those around him and their loyalty to him.
In the last line of ‘Easter Monday’ she acknowledges that he is gone and that “there are three letters that you will not get.” This is a very blunt and final ending as she has come to terms with her loss, although she carries on using “you” as though he can still hear her, which creates a sadness for us, as we are able to feel her emotion.
‘I am’ contains a very regular structured rhyme scheme which helps the movement of the poem. Therefore the change in the last verse emphasizes the change of the subject as “I long for scenes,” which tells us that he wants to escape back to the innocence he felt as a child where he can “sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept.” We imagine this person as an innocent child and are able to identify with his reason for wanting to escape.
However, ‘Easter Monday’ is a sonnet without rhyme which reflects the conversational tone that it is written in as it tells a story about him when, “you liked to munch beyond all other fruit.” She remembers all the little things of their relationship, which shows her adoration for him and makes us feel closer to her as we also feel adoration towards him.
The language used in ‘I am’ is quite varied as he uses imagery of the “vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems” to link the environment to his feelings to show how his life is just a ruin and like a shipwreck nothing can be done about it, which is very pessimistic and makes us feel sorry that he feels that way about his own life. He also uses a contrast of his woes being “like shadows in love’s frenzied, stifled throes.” The image of slow movement from “shadows” contrasts with the fast movement from “frenzied” to imply a spasm of something. This emphasizes his bitterness and maybe he is referring a bad encounter with love.
On the other hand, the language used in ‘Easter Monday’ is very simple and straight forward using lots of imagery of nature such as, “in the orchard the apple-bud was ripe.” This conveys an image of springtime and is quite positive and uplifting, which makes the ending sound even more abrupt as the tone completely changes and becomes more realistic.
Although I agree that the use of direct dialogue allows the reader to relate and empathize with the author I also feel that the poems could still work and be effective without the terms of the first person such as “you” or “I” because it is not just who the dialogue is aimed at which makes the reader able to relate to the poem. The language, rhyme and the movement and emotions felt within the poem also play a large part in creating realism and closeness to the poet.
