The Outlook of Death in three poems (Poetry Anthology comparison)
Death is life's only certainty. At the moment when each year - each day - begins to weigh heavy importance, we are forced to circumspect not only on the aspects of death, but also life, grief, and the after-life. This essay explores the outlook of death from three poems - Crabbit Old Woman by Phyllis McCormack, Refugee Mother and Child by Chinua Achebe, and Remember, by Christina Rossetti. These verses have moved people with their semblances of reality, and this essay studies the various outlooks of death presented. Crabbit Old Woman is written in the persona of an elderly woman reflecting on her life in a nursing home. This first-person account positions us to view the situation from her angle. She is frustrated at the young nurse's inability to see beyond her physicality. The poem is structured through short, six/seven syllable lines, rhetorical questions and rhyme, which establishes a sense of it being a rapid rapport with the nurse, whilst also an inner dialogue. The poem critiques the presumptuousness of our highly visual society. Nature is pejoratively personified in "Nature is cruel, 'tis her jest, to make old age look a fool". The physical effect of age is evident, "The body it crumbles". The word 'crumbles' metaphorically refers to biscuit-like weakness, which reinstates her physical state. Her physical and emotional beings, however, are presented as separate
Compare Two Robert Frost Poems, The Road Not Taken & Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Compare Two Robert Frost Poems, Focusing On The Ideas That He Presents And How He Presents Them 'The Road Not Taken' and 'Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening' are two poems by the American poet Robert Frost. The poems were both written in the early 20th century and as a result contain many features, typical of a poem at that time. The poems concern an encounter with nature and similarly are both set in woods although one is an autumnal wood and the other, as the title of 'Stopping...On A Snowy Evening' suggests, is set in deepest winter. It is also known that one of these woods is set in England whereas the other is in America. Furthermore, the poems concern a journey or a travel of some sort. However the journey in 'The Road Not Taken' is undertaken on foot whilst the other is on horseback. Both poems are a first person narrative which suggests that it might be a personal experience of the writer, especially as they feature decisions that the narrator has to take. The ideas explored by Frost in the two poems contain many similarities and differences. As previously mentioned, both poems concern a journey. In 'The Road Not Taken' the narrator, possibly the poet himself, is faced with a fork in the path of a 'yellow' wood. He spends a while judging which path he should possibly take and there is the feeling that, whichever road he takes, it is for good and he can't turn back
Compare how the past reveals feelings about a place in Nothings Changed with the ways another poet reveals feelings about a place or places in one other poem.
Essay Question: Compare how the past reveals feelings about a place in "Nothing's Changed" with the ways another poet reveals feelings about a place or places in one other poem. Nobody can help have feelings- they are a part of everyone. We feel differently towards an issue as different things happen to us. Feelings do not change with time. What we feel as a child stays with us even when we are older. Feelings can be positive or negative. The poets Tatamkhula Afrika and Grace Nichols are both trying to deliver a similar message about feelings. In the poem Nothing's changed, the poet is feeling anger towards the white people even though the Apartheid had been finished. "District Six. No board say it.... And the hot, white, inward turning anger of my eyes." This shows that the poet is feeling ferocity towards the People in District Six. This can be said because "District Six" has been written as a short, expletive sentence, which is full of anger. "No board says it: but my feet know" This shows that even though Apartheid has ended and all the boards which differentiate the black community from the white community have been removed, the poet still feels secluded from the community. "And my hands, and the skin about my bones, and the soft labouring of my lungs, and the hot, white, inward turning anger of my eyes." This shows that as he is walking along, his anger is
Compare Sujata Bhatt's Search for my tongue poem, with Grace Nichols' Hurricane Hits England, and decide whether or not having one or more culture can be a positive experience.
In both poems, Search For My Tongue and Hurricane Hits England, the authors are talking about being caught having more than one culture. We can see this from many different perspectives. First, where they begin to explain their story and trauma in short concentrated pieces of text and secondly where it shows that they are quite obviously unhappy and confused about their life. Evidence for this in Search For My Tongue is in lines three to six where she says 'I ask you, what would you do if you had two tongues in your mouth, and lost the first one, the mother tongue and could not really know the other' this tells us that she is very confused, desperate and would take help of anyone, it also tells us that she is unsure about what plan of action to take next. Evidence for this theory in Hurricane Hits England is where she says 'it took a hurricane to bring her closer, to the landscape, half the night she lay awake', this also shows us that in her story and experiences, she has deep thought about her situation and problems. this one theory doesn't itself show us that there may be a positive experience right now, but what it does show us and hint to us is that the poem may follow on and tell us a different outcome, slightly more positive if we were to guess, I gathered this when she said 'it took a hurricane to bring her closer' this is both a positive and a negative thing due to
The poems Strange fruit written by Abel Meeropol (Lewis Allen) 1937 and Still I rise written by Maya Angelou both convey the racism which fell upon the lives of many black individuals.
Explore how the poems 'still I rise ' and 'strange fruit' represent the experiences of the black woman/man The poems 'strange fruit' written by Abel Meeropol (Lewis Allen) 1937 and "still I rise' written by Maya Angelou both convey the racism which fell upon the lives of many black individuals. Abel Meeropol although was not of black heritage was provoked to the hatred of the unjust crimes situated amongst the black race, he also emphasises his hatred for the people who perpetuate the circumstances that they were put under. Maya Angelou on the other hand was from a black heritage, and having been apart of the black race, gave her writing which explored the inequalities of the black female and the black man, a more defiant feel, whereas Abel's outsiders perspective of the black man/woman is not as harsh. The way each poem has been structured was specific to the manner in which both Abel Meeropol and Maya Angelou wanted it was presented to the reader. 'Strange fruit' was written in 3rd person which gave the piece and outsiders perspective, whereas 'still I rise' was written in 1st person this gave the poem a first hand perspective of the piece. 'Still I rise' also uses a 2nd person pronoun, which gives the piece a direct appeal to the reader, creating assumptions that the white man is reading it. This grabs the reader and plays with the reader's guilt. The use of metaphors
Compare the methods used to make a protest through poetry in two scavengers and one other poem.
Compare the methods used to make a protest through poetry in two scavengers and one other poem. Both 'Two Scavengers' and 'Nothing's Changed' are protesting against issues of discrimination between different classes of society and different races. In 'Two Scavengers' Ferlinghetti is protesting against the inequalities within a democracy, and how it's not democratic but more ruled by class. In 'Nothing's Changed' we are shown Africa when the apartheid law was still in place and a protest about the way black people are treated there. The imagery used by both poets highlights there protests against the unfairness of society. 'Two Scavengers' is set in San Francisco which is meant to be a democratic society however there is a 'small gulf in the high seas of this democracy.' The use of this metaphor emphasizes how society is still ruled by class. Ferlinghetti says the gulf is 'small' which indicates it should be easy to cross the over to a democratic society. However, paired with 'the high seas', it becomes hard to cross. It is dangerous to try and break out of the different classes and it is easier and almost safer to remain in the same kind of society. The use of the word 'democracy' is sarcastic, there shouldn't be a 'gulf' in a 'democracy', especially in a place like 'San Francisco' that should keep everyone equal. Similarly there is an invisible divide in apartheid Africa,
The theme of father and son relationships in Digging and Follower
Examine the theme of father and son relationships in Digging and Follower. In the two poems, Follower and Digging by Seamus Heaney there is an obvious, strong, father and son relationship between Seamus and his father. Seamus has written the poems in accordance to his childhood. In both poems, there are a sign of respect for each other. In Follower, Seamus praises his father a lot of his expertise: 'His shoulders globed like a full sail strung,' Seamus is describing his fathers well built shoulder muscles and how they globe out like a ships sail in the wind does. Seamus also respects the way that his fathers work is always perfect and nothing can go wrong: 'The sod rolled over without breaking.' Here, whilst at working in the farm, Seamus' father rolls over the mud in perfect piles without breaking. He also says, 'the polished sod,' which conveys an image of perfect shiny piles of mud all neatly mounded in a row. In Digging, Heaney says how his father and his grandfather were both expert farmers, but he could never follow in their footsteps, 'But I've no spade to follow men like them.' This shows how Heaney respects them both, he uses the word 'them' to point out the different generations. Heaney shows some guilt for not becoming a respectable farmer like them when he says, 'Through living roots awaken in my head.' He is showing his guilt because both the men above him were
Dulcet decorum est
Look again at Dulce et Decorum Est and The Send Off. How does the writer's choice of words in these two poems convey the strength of his feelings about the atmosphere and events portrayed? The poems are written by the same writer about different experiences of war. Wilfred Owen uses the theme, tone, structure and language to "convey the strength of his feelings". The theme of The Send Off is how a group of soldiers leave to go to the station to leave the country and fight in the First World War. He mainly refers back to the fact that nobody has come to say good bye also he seems to give the idea that most will not return. The theme in Dulce et Decorum Est is how the men in the trenches have been marching. Then they are gassed and a man dies and is thrown on the wagon and how there is nothing glorious about war. These show his "feelings" of war are negative as both death and being alone and when you leave somewhere with out family you will always feel lonely. Both themes have a larger picture in Dulce et decorum est the larger picture is about how the soldiers are in both poems are marching and going to somewhere unknown to the reader. This leaves us curious but the emotions amplified in the poems by Owen makes it had to see the many meaning. Both tones of the poems are sad as Owen is writing about experiences which are saddening as death and leaving are both hard
Unrelated Incidents And Half Caste Comparison
i) In 'Unrelated Incidents', Tom Leonard expresses his thoughts on how we our characterised by the way we speak. Compare one other poem that deals with similar ideas. John Agard, born in 1949 to parents of mixed nationality came to live in Britain in 1977. Agard's poem 'Half Caste' demonstrates the attitude of narrow minded people he must have met, who consider people of 'mixed race', to be inferior. Agard uses a bit of humour but the anger of the situation is always obvious. Tom Leonard, born In Glasgow, a British Citizen but describes him self as being thoroughly Scottish. Similar to Half Caste, Leonard's Poem is about attitude towards people with non standard accents and dialects and how we are discriminated because of the way we speak. Half Caste opens up with a short, sharp three line stanza in which Leonard sarcastically explains he is 'standing on one leg' because he is half caste; by this Leonard means that if people consider him to be half a person than he would only have one leg. From the second stanza on, the poet addresses the audience in a very direct way, 'explain yuself, wha yu mean'. It is almost as if Agard is assuming that the reader is one of those who look down on mixed race people and use the term 'half-caste'. On the other hand, Leonard's 'unrelated incidents' is about how people have prejudices for and against particular accents and dialects and he
Poem comparision showing importance of identity
Essay comparison: "Love after love" and "This room" compare the way in which the importance of identity is written about in "Love after love" and "This room". In "Love after love" by Derek Walcott and "This room" by Imtiaz Dharker, the poets explore how outs own identity should be celebrated. Walcott portrays this by using positive language such as "elation" and "feast on your life" to show that once you have found your identity, you can celebrate that you have found yourself. Dharker gets her message across by also giving positive images of hands "clapping" which is what people do to celebrate happy occasions. In this case, Dharker could be outside clapping in celebration for finding her own identity. Both poems use metaphors including "the stranger who has loved you" in "Love after love" and "this room is breaking out of itself". The room is personified to become Dharker's mind breaking out and throwing out the nightmares and the dark memories to become who we really want to be. Walcott uses the metaphor of a stranger, which is yourself, because when you are in a relationship, you become someone else and get traits from another person. The stranger in the mirror is the person who you were before you were in a relationship. Both poems are similar because they talk about how were still ourselves before the change but will be who we are after time in "Love after love" and