What is the importance of the land in Twentieth Century Irish Poetry?
What is the importance of the land in Twentieth Century Irish Poetry? Land in the Twentieth Century was very important to the Irish nation, and this is portrayed through the works of certain pieces of poetry, written by native countrymen Thomas Kinsella and Seamus Heaney. The poem 'Wormwood' is expressed by Thomas Kinsella in a powerful and descriptive manner where the reader can experience the deepest thoughts of the writer, in his or her own way. The reader feels a sense of involvement as Kinsella sets the scene in the dank woods: "In a thicket, among wet trees, stunned, minutely Shuddering, hearing a wooden echo escape." Kinsella informs us of a tree, which he is in fact bewildered by. How he has never come across a tree like this before. It has a certain grace and elegance due to its individuality. The sheer size of the tree he finds mesmerizing, and describing the slenderness of how the tree appears to the naked eye: "The two trees in their infinitesimal dance of growth Have turned completely about one another, their join A slowly twisted scar..." Then Kinsella's dreams are shattered, as a kind of axe breaks the bond between these two trees. As this axe shatters the tree it also shatters the dreams of Kinsella: "A wooden stroke: Iron sinks in the gasping core. I will dream it again." Wormwood was one of Kinsella's poems which he wrote during the twentieth
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost relates on both a literal and metaphoric level to the concept of a journey.
Amanda Atlee The Road Not Taken The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost relates on both a literal and metaphoric level to the concept of a journey. The poem depicts one man's journey throughout his life, the choices he made and the road he travelled. The Road Not Taken is a poem with universal relevance about a journey that every person takes. Here is a first person narrative tale of a monumental moment in the speaker's life - Frost can be considered the speaker. Frost is faced between the choice of a moment and a lifetime manifested in his poem. Frost presents the idea of an individual facing the difficult unalterable predilection of a moment and a lifetime. This idea in Frost's poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the speaker's decision to select the road not taken. Frost effectively conveys his theme and meaning through the use of numerous techniques. These techniques include simple yet powerful imagery, word choice and rhyme and rhythm. Also vital in the effectiveness of this poem is the use of symbolism and the extended metaphor present. Literally this man is a traveller standing at the divergence of two roads. Metaphorically this man is in the 'autumn' of his life, suggested by the "yellow wood" and has come to the crossroads where decisions have to be made to determine the rest of his life. The subject chose "the road not
Commentary on 'The Wild Swans at Coole' by W.B. Yeats
Ruth Haines Commentary on 'The Wild Swans at Coole' by W.B. Yeats 'The wild Swans at Coole' is a poignant and contemplative Poem written by Yeats typical of his spiritualistic and mysterious style. It was written towards the end of his career/life, reflecting his growing realisation of human immortality in that he is growing older and nearing the end of his life. Throughout the poem Yeats constantly uses the strong image of swans, which to him appear immortal, as a contrast to his own fading life to communicate his awareness of human transience. To compliment the development of this idea of nearing death, Yeats uses a combination of natural imagery, soft language and the form of a regular lyric to create an overall serene and slightly melancholic quality to the poem. At the beginning of poem, particularly in the first stanza the use of natural imagery and language creates a calm and serene tone. The poem follows a regular lyric structure in six stanzas of six lines each, it alternates four beat and three beat lines with the rhyming structure of ABCBDD. This helps to endure a feeling of movement/flow and it reinforces the calm tone created by the other literacy techniques used. The use of words such as 'October', 'Autumn' and 'Twilight' not only create the sense of time at which this poem is set, but all three evoke images of nearing the end of a time period and could be
The poem that I have chosen to analyse is "Exposure" by Wilfred Owen.
Exposure The poem that I have chosen to analyse is "Exposure" by Wilfred Owen. Wilfred Owen is one of the worlds Britain's poets of the Great War of 1912 - 1918, he unlike many others told through his poems what the war was really like, from first hand experience, he protests against the war. A year after war broke out, he joined the "Artists' Rifles" and later the Manchester Regiment. He quickly became an officer and felt responsible for the deaths of hundreds of young men. He felt deeply annoyed that the British public saw the war as glorious and honourable. He wanted to show them the reality of war and he did this through his descriptive poems. He was awarded the Military Cross in October for bravery at Amiens. However, on the 4th of November he was killed whilst attempting to lead his men across the Sambre canal at Ors. The news of his death reached his parents on the 11th of November 1918: Armistice Day. He is an English poet noted for his anger at the cruelty and waste of war and his pity for its victims. The areas of the poem that I will be concentrating on are the theme of anti-war and death; his word choice and figures of speech; and his powerful use of imagery. The theme of the poem is very important, as it is the message that he is trying to get across. The title of the poem "Exposure" is very significant as it can mean three things. Exposure
A Critical Analysis of ‘Strange Meeting’ by Wilfred Owen
A Critical Analysis of 'Strange Meeting' by Wilfred Owen 'Strange Meeting' by Wilfred Owen is written to reflect upon war: a place worse than hell! It begins with the relief of one soldier as he is flung magically away from the battlefield. Only after making contact with one of the spirits does he realise where he is. It continues with a large monologue by the awakened spirit describing the waste of life caused by war. It presents many valid statements on war that can be found beneath the subject matter. It closes with the acceptance of death as the hell of war has now past. This poem contains several underlying messages as well as the subject matter, which is clearly laid out. The line 'I am the enemy you killed, my friend' best encapsulates one. The general setting of the poem as well as this leads me to the conclusion that Wilfred Owen is proposing that enemies at war can be friends outside of it. This adds further to the argument that war is senseless and evil. Another message is set out by the line 'now men will go content with what we spoiled'. This points out that men not involved in the war will feel content with their 'achievements' and wars will go on because they do not know the evil it causes. 'None will break ranks though nations trek from progress' states that no one will dare to defy convention and wars will go on, leading everyone further away from
How does Tennyson bring mental pessimism and Victorian optimism in his use of myths and legends?
How does Tennyson bring mental pessimism and Victorian optimism in his use of myths and legends? Ans.: "And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night." [Dover Beach: Mathew Arnold] "The year is at the spring And day is at the morn, ... God's in heaven, All is right with world." [Pippa Passes: Robert Browning] These above quoted two quotations are from two renowned poets of Victorian arena show the contrast attitudes to their time. Browning is very optimistic of everything because he does not have any mental torment of his age. On the contrary Mathew Arnold is very critical of his age, which he has found barren and sterile dominated by materialistic views and so spiritually degenerated. But Tennyson is almost a mixture of Browning's and Arnold's feelings. In some of his poems he is very happy about everything in which he is passing his life and in some of his poems he is very melancholic about his surroundings. These joys and sorrows are pre-dominated in him due to some of mental crises and the condition of the Victorian age in which he was. Some of the greatest poems created by Tennyson are based on myths and legends. He possessed the talent of giving the myths and legends a very new look just to show how these poems adjust with the people and the crises of his time. These poems
Compare and contrast attitudes to war illustrated in Jessie Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game?’ and Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce etDecorum est’ and ‘Disabled’.
Compare and contrast attitudes to war illustrated in Jessie Pope's 'Who's for the game?' and Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum est' and 'Disabled'. At the start of the First World War, war was portrayed as a glorious and credible cause. Fighting in a war on behalf of your country was deemed as the duty of any credible man. The ability to represent one's country on the battlefield was one of the greatest honours a man could have. Through the interference of war there was an outcry of patriotism. Men were overwhelmed with ideas of being able to fight for their country's prosperity. Men flocked to sign up and fight for their country. Women forced their husbands and sons to go and carry out what was believed as their duty. The newspapers and the pro-war journalists who wrote in them played a very influential part in convincing men to recruit. One such journalist for the Daily Mail was Jessie Pope who composed unsophisticated war poetry encouraging men to enlist in the army. The patriotic ideals and the concept of war were all dismantled when soldiers returned from war and spoke of the horrors of war leading to a change in people's attitudes towards war. Wilfred Owen was a soldier who experienced war and showed his hatred of it through his poetry. But before joining the British army, Wilfred Owen was an English teacher who visited hospitals during the First World War and
'In Little Red Cap,' Duffy has successfully written about childhood and the loss of innocence. Discuss with detailed references to the poem;
'In Little Red Cap,' Duffy has successfully written about childhood and the loss of innocence. Discuss with detailed references to the poem; I am going to explore more deeply into Carol Anne Duffy's poem, 'little Red Cap.' And discuss the journey from childhood to adulthood, due to 'Little Red Cap's' loss of innocence. 'Little Red Cap' is one of the many poems that have been written by Carol Ann Duffy to portray a feminine side of life. Carol Anne Duffy has managed to do this by enabling each female character to have a voice to speak up against in many cases their husbands or partners. The poem "Little red cap" is based on the fairytale little red riding hood. However, this poem is a lot more mature and advanced in contrast to the original version of the story, which many people know and love. In the first stanza we are immediately introduced to the fact that 'Little Red Cap' is no longer a young child as Carol Anne Duffy uses a metaphor to clearly point out that she is 'At childhood's end,' Which signifies Little Red Cap is at the beginning of her adult life and that she is no longer an innocent child, but she is now a independent young women. However in the second stanza this image is slightly diminished as it states that she is only 'Sweet Sixteen.' this quote warns the reader that she is not as grown up as we were first set out to believe, in fact this makes her seem
When Wilfred Owen wrote the poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' his purpose was to warn us of the effects of war and how it can affect soldiers and their loved ones.
AMDG Folio Piece Breda Sweeney Anthem for Doomed Youth 20-02-02 When Wilfred Owen wrote the poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' his purpose was to warn us of the effects of war and how it can affect soldiers and their loved ones. He achieves this by comparing the horror and danger on the battlefield, to the respect we show to our loved ones at their funeral when they die. He list objects such as prayers and candles and twists them into the equivalents of war. Owen splits the poem into two parts, the octave and the sestet. The octave is set on the battlefield. It starts with, "What passing bells for those who die as cattle?" In this the line, the passing bells are signalling what the cannons sounded like on the battlefield. I think this is a good comparison as bells and cannons both have the same rhythm of sound coming from them. He also describes the sound that comes from the riffle, to be like the constant flow and rhythm of prayers been said aloud. The second quatrain contrast the sound of wailing shells with the sound a choir makes. I imagine that Owen tried to describe the wailing shells to be like the high voices in a choir, singing over the rest of the singers just like the wailing shells would block all the rest of the sounds on the battlefield. The octave ends with the word "shires" which leads us on to the sestet. The sestet
Analyse how Seamus Heaney uses language to convey his childhood experiences to the reader in his poems
Analyse how Seamus Heaney uses language to convey his childhood experiences to the reader in his poems "Death of a Naturalist" and "Blackberry Picking." Both poems are similar in their content as they are both written by Seamus Heaney about his childhood experiences. I also believe that both his experiences have a similar content. In "Death of a Naturalist" we find that the poem is about being out in fields collecting frogspawn. In "Blackberry Picking" the poet is speaking again about his childhood experiences in the fields. This time he is collecting blackberries. This is similar to "Death if a Naturalist" as it is in the wild at a young age enjoying nature. The titles are not so similar; "Death of a Naturalist" is a symbolic title. The title is not literal, no one actually dies in the poem. The death is of the way the poet feels about the frogs. In the first verse the poet feels for the frogs but in the second verse he almost fears them. "Blackberry Picking" on the other hand is not a symbolic title it is literal. In the poem the poet goes blackberry picking and this is explained in the title. Although the title could be considered symbolic also as perhaps the simplicity of the title portrays the simplicity and innocence of the child's mind. The mood between the two poems is also very similar. In "Death of a Naturalist" the mood changes between the two verses. In the
