The two authors seem to have a completely different placement of time. Whereas Paul Groves has written it to be in our present time, even comparing it to humans briefly, in D.H. Lawrence’s version we are confronted with a humming bird that lived before anything else existed: “Before anything had a soul” and “This little bit chipped off in brilliance” It is similarly described in the other poem.
Paul Groves tends to give the hummingbird an image of automated beauty: “The humming bird refuels” Just like it has no personality. In the second stanza, the poet describes it as having the “metabolism of a steam engine”. Moreover the tones of the poem are very different. The tone of Paul Groves poem is very colorful, with flowers and white rapids giving a vibrant image of what the scene looks like. However in the second poem the tone is very dark and mysterious: “In the most awful stillness” and in the “otherworld” create a mysterious mood.
This is a completely different image of what D.H. Lawrence decided to describe the humming bird as. Instead of describing the bird as a small delicate creature “slip it with ease into a breast pocket”, it is instead described as “Probably he was big” and is not as pretty and charming as in the other poem: “he was a jabbing, terrifying monster” These descriptions all show a very contrasting image of the humming birds.
To conclude this essay, both essays have many differences, such as in tone. Whereas one poem describes it as being a very colorful and happy setting where the humming bird is a beautiful, but mechanized creature, in the other poem written by D.H. Lawrence the tone is very dark and mysterious. There are quite a few similes and metaphors that help set the theme and accurately describe the humming birds. In the second poem the humming bird is described as being close to a terrifying monster, whereas in the first poem it is a beautiful creature.
