Compare and contrast "Pneumoconiosis" and "He loved light, freedom and animals".

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Huw Liddell                                                                                           16/11/03

Compare and contrast

“Pneumoconiosis”

 and

“He loved light, freedom and animals”

Both poems have a connection with coal mines.  Pneumoconiosis is a disease caught in the mines by many coal miners, which affects the lungs.  The background of “He loved light, freedom and animals” is about a mining disaster in Aberfan.  A slag heap on the side of a mountain gave way and engulfed parts of the small town.

“Pneumoconiosis” is written by Duncan Bush and is written in the first person,

                “But it’s had forty years

                 in me now”

He talks as if it’s happening to him.  This is affective because we can relate with this character better by understanding what he is feeling and going through.

        Mike Jenkins wrote “He loved light, freedom and animals” as if he were an eyewitness to the disaster.  Throughout the poem Mike Jenkins uses past tense to recall back to the moments like memories.

                “His scream was stopped mid-flight!”

This gives us a clue about the father’s denial throughout the poem, as he constantly recalls back to that day.

        

"Pneumoconiosis” is an old man talking about the effects of the disease on his life.  We know he’s old man because he talks about this life.

        “I had thirty years in it, boy.” and

“But it’s had forty years in me now.”

The first line means that he’s spent thirty years working in the coal mines and the second line means that he’s had the disease for forty years, therefore he must be over seventy five years old at least.  He also talks like an old man by saying “boy” at the end of the sentence; this makes the old man more realistic to us.

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        Unlike "Pneumoconiosis", "He loved light, freedom and animals" is about a young boy’s life instead of an old man’s.  A man whom I believe to be a father is looking back in denial of his son’s death, which was lost in the disaster.

Both poems have different themes.  I found that the theme of the poem "Pneumoconiosis” was about sympathy towards the old man and how he’s covering up his true feelings.

Throughout the poem the poet repeats this line,

                “I try not to think about it.”

The old man tries to be brave and not to take notice ...

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