Similarly to ‘Background material’, in ‘One Flesh’ Jennings herself appears to be one of the key things that connects her parents together. Jennings’ poem describes her parents in a more personal, intimate way than in ‘Background Material’. It describes how the passion of their relationship – which produced their child – has ‘grown cold’. Jennings outlines her parents’ bedroom and how they lie in bed together “strangely apart and strangely close together”. They are uneasy in their relationship because “they hardly ever touch” and yet they are not comfortable any other way either as the intimate side of their marriage has declined. They are each left uncomfortable at the prospect of touching one another, but equally uncomfortable at accepting or admitting that this is the case.
The tone of both poems is somewhat melancholy; reflecting in each case on the autumn of the poets’ parents’ lives, but with sad affection rather than any sense of reproach. In both poems, the earlier lives of the poets’ parents are also described to an extent, not just the relationship of parents. For example, in ‘Background Material’, the photograph of Harrison’s mother shows his “Welsh cottage and a wood” in the background and the photograph of his father was taken in a pub. This indicates that perhaps this is where his parents spent much of their lives. Moreover, the photographs were taken on special occasions, but they are not together in the photographs, as one might expect. “A birthday, him. Their ruby wedding, her.” Following from the idea that Harrison perhaps regards himself as a ‘mistake’, it is possible that he was the one thing linking his parents and that they were never especially close and did not share similar interests. Nevertheless, there is no sense of any animosity between the two and their marriage evidently endured until his father died. In Jennings’ poem, it is also evident that the two parents are to a degree inhabiting separate worlds. “He with a book, keeping the light on late, / She like a girl dreaming of childhood”. However, this was not always the case as Jennings explains that they used to have a passionate relationship, but the “fire, from which I came, has now grown cold”. The reason for this is given in a question that Jennings asks “Do they know they’re old”?
The different approaches that Harrison and Jennings have to writing about their parents are shown in the titles of their poems. ‘Background Material’ is somewhat obscure, and could be referring to the fact that Harrison is the background material in his parents’ lives. Alternatively, it could mean that his parents were in the background of each other’s lives, or it could be relating to the locations in the background of the photographs. Jennings’s title is more obviously appropriate – ‘one flesh’ describes the joining of two people and her poem is about how her parents have lost the connection that they once had in their relationship.
Harrison and Jennings both write their poems about their parents in the present tense and in the 1st person. This results in the poems being more personal, and it feels as if the poets have opened a part of their lives up to the audience. As ‘One Flesh’ is particularly detailed, one is especially struck by the intimacy of the knowledge being disclosed and the reader almost feels uncomfortable. ‘One Flesh’ is comprised of three equal six line stanzas whereas ‘Background Material’ is free verse, consisting of five uneven stanzas. This means that the relationship of Jennings’ parents actually could be considered as more consistent than that of Harrison’s. However, ‘Background Material’ has a regular rhyming scheme as the alternate lines rhyme and is mostly in iambic pentameter. Harrison’s parents may therefore have just had different interests, as opposed to a poor relationship. In comparison, ‘One Flesh’ has an irregular rhyming scheme which consists of rhyming couplets and alternate lines rhyming. It also does not have a regular rhythm. The fact that One Flesh has a more irregular rhythm and a random rhyming scheme reflects the awkwardness of the parents’ relationship.
Harrison and Jennings both use metaphors in their poems in order to describe their parents’ relationships. In ‘Background Material’, the photographs are an extended metaphor for Harrison’s parents’ lives. This means that at first, the true meaning of the poem is ambiguous, as it could be mistaken for a poem about photographs. Jennings poem is more direct, but uses several metaphors in order to describe her parents’ relationship. For example, she describes her parents as being “Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion”, comparing their current relationship to leftover debris floating caught by the current of the sea.
Harrison uses enjambment to link the last three stanzas of ‘Background Material’. The last two stanzas each relate to just one of his parents, therefore the use of enjambment links both the stanzas and Harrison’s parents together. Moreover, Harrison is describing the flaws caused by him in the photographs, so the link between the stanzas due to the enjambment shows that his parents are linked through him. Harrison and Jennings also both use caesura, creating pauses to allow the reader to reflect on what they are saying. The pauses also emphasize the differences between the poets’ parents, “A birthday, him. Their ruby wedding, her.” In ‘Background Material’, the pauses create a sense of time, showing that Harrison is remembering his parents and their relationship.
In conclusion, Harrison and Jennings both describe the relationship between their parents and to some extent, their own lives; however, they do so using very different methods. Jennings is very direct and open about her parents’ relationship, whereas Harrison only alludes obliquely to about his parents’ relationship. This is even reflected in the titles of the poems. The parents in both ‘Background Material’ and ‘One Flesh’ are linked by their children (the poets). Neither Harrison nor Jennings appears resentful of their parents’ relationships, but there is a rather melancholy feeling in both poems. This is because both poems are describing the latter stages of their parents’ lives and there is an unspoken affection towards them.