In both poems the writers are looking at themselves and their situation, and expressing their feelings towards this. In ‘I Am’ Clare conveys his strong feelings of isolation through the line ‘My friends forsake me like a memory lost’. The use of the word ‘forsake’ is dramatic and emphasises how alone he feels as he has been forsaken. The line ‘Are strange-nay, rather stranger than the rest’ conveys how the people closest to him no longer understand him. He has no one to share his pain with and consequently his misery grows deeper.
Unlike Clare, Byron has led an enjoyable life and is choosing to forsake its extravagance in favour of growing old peacefully. He has resided to this fact amiably conveyed by the positive feeling of the poem and the use of personification in the line ‘And love itself have rest’. By giving ‘love itself’ an identity and describing it as needing rest, Byron emphasises the fact that his love of his lifestyle must now have rest.
In ‘I Am’ Clare describes the asylum as an unhappy place filled with anger and torment, ‘into the nothingness of scorn and noise’. As noted before, Clare believes his life has been a complete ruin, and now he has been left to age in this miserable environment. The line ‘Where there is neither sense of life or joys’ conveys how he has become desensitised and empty from his surroundings. This institution is the cause of much frustration and sadness.
Comparatively Byron’s repetition of the words ‘be still’ conveys how everything in his surroundings is still as wonderful, even though he has chosen to no longer be a part of it. Therefore Clare’s negativity towards his isolation stems from his situation, he did not choose to be committed and therefore resents it. However, Byron has made his own decision to isolate himself and consequently has a different, more positive attitude.
Clare expresses much self pity in his poem, conveyed through the title, ‘I Am’, and the frequent use of the term ‘I Am’ throughout the poem. Considering his desperate situation his pity is not unjust. Through this abundance of self pity Clare emphasises how alone he is as there is no one to feel sorry for him, and no one cares. He has been left in the shadows, conveyed by the line ‘Like shadows in love’s frenzied, stifled throws’, and feels invisible, conveyed by the simile, ‘Like vapours tossed’.
Byron, on the other hand, does not express any self pity as he has resided himself to the fact that he now needs isolation. This is conveyed by the title, ‘So We’ll Go No More A-Roving’. The use of the word ‘so’ suggests a relaxed attitude to his decision, and instead of feeling sorry for himself he expresses that he is feeling older and that the time has come to settle down.
Both poets express a need for rest. Byron conveys how he is feeling tired in the line ‘For the sword outwears its sheath’. The sword is in comparison to Byron who is outwearing his lifestyle, which has become too much for him now and he’s tired. Following this line, the use of repetition of the word ‘And’ in the third stanza emphasises this idea of being worn out. Byron’s need for rest is conveyed by the line ‘And the heart must pause to breath’. He now needs to settle down and take a ‘pause’ in his life.
Clare also longs for rest and peace as he says ‘I long for scenes, where man hath never trod’. He expresses his want to ‘abide’ with God and sleep as he ‘sweetly slept’ in childhood. He wants to be alone, away from all the pain and misery he is experiencing, and to relive those scenes from his childhood when everything was easy. H owever although he longs for rest like Byron, Clare also suggests that he wants to die and go to heaven to be alone with his ‘Creator, God’. The line ‘The grass below-above the vaulted sky’ is a description of the place where he wants to be-heaven.
Byron does not go to this extreme of wanting to die as he is far more content with his situation than Clare and has prepared himself for a time of rest as he grows old.
The poet’s opinions are further reflected by the form and structure of their poems. Both are written in the first person. This is especially relevant in ‘I Am’ as it emphasises Clare’s self pity. In ‘So We’ll Go No More A-Roving’ the structure reflects Byron’s positive attitude as the simple ABAB rhyme pattern, and the simplicity of the language gives the poem a light hearted, lyrical feel. It is fast and upbeat and has a flowing quality to it.
Comparatively, in ‘I Am’, Clare’s use of long lines, more complicated language, and words with three to four syllables, makes it have less of an easy flowing quality. The rough rhyming scheme of ABABCC also hinders the flowing quality, unlike the simplicity of the ABAB rhyme in ‘I Am’. This structure and uneasy flow reflects Clare’s resentment and negativity towards his situation as the poem is in some ways a struggle to read, and this part in Clare’s life was also a struggle.
In conclusion, Byron and Clare’s diverse attitudes towards isolation and growing older are mainly due to a difference in situation. But however dissimilar their attitudes, both poets have effectively used various techniques to convey their feelings and make their poem successful.