Poetry Comparison of ‘I Shall Return’ and ‘War Photographer’
McKay and Duffy come from two very different backgrounds, one being a Jamaican immigrant and the other a Scottish teacher, yet both of their poems seem to amalgamate under the same theme of alien and residential cultures combined.
‘I Shall Return’ is a lyrical sonnet and details McKay’s wish to return to his home of Jamaica. The first couplet shows the writer in an ironically optimistic state. Despite the fact that leaving your home in the early twentieth century usually meant that you would never return, he is determined to believe that he will revisit his homeland again. This is put across by McKay using repetition in, “I shall return again. I shall return.” The second line further concludes this in that he uses fond memories to bring his dream, clearly stated in the opening line, alive. “Wonder-eyes” is a wonderfully descriptive phrase but one cannot help but think if the eyes mentioned are artificial, almost as though he is either looking at his place at the moment of writing with ‘rose-tinted spectacles’ or whether it reflects the lies he told in that he “shall return.”
‘War Photographer’ has four regular stanzas, which contain rhythmical iambic lines within them. The opening line, “In his darkroom he is finally alone,” is very secretive because it doesn’t directly tell the reader exactly what is happening and “darkroom” leads the reader to believe that the character is hiding from someone or something. This is effective as it urges the reader to read on. The second line further intrigues our imagination, as we desperately would like to know what exactly are these metaphorically alliterative “spools of suffering”. The next clause of this line, “set out in ordered lines”, gives an almost militant impression as soldiers tend to stand in rows. However, to contrast this, in the next line we are told that, “the only light is red and softly glows.” I think that this represents religion as I associate the colour red with the dim lights we see in Church. Despite the fact that this could be seen as a contrast, I see this as a possible hint that the “spools of suffering” contain images of a religious war. The next two lines confirm my belief that the poem has some sort of religious connotation. The final part of the first stanza is almost life defining and as a result makes it a central point of the entire poem. “All flesh is grass”, is a philosophical metaphor and is a reference from St Peter. It attracts the reader’s attention as it gives a deeper insight into Duffy’s personal life, showing that perhaps she has some sort of lack of belief in God.