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
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
'Hurricane Hits England' & Presents From...'
Choose two poems that explore the idea of discomfort in a new environment. Both "Hurricane Hits England" and "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" deal with the idea of discomfort in a new environment: "Hurricane Hits England" is about feeling better in the new environment by being reminded about the old one. "Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan" is about how contact with the old environment can make it difficult to feel at home in the new one. "Hurricane Hits England" shows how a woman is brought closer to the English landscape. The hurricane is something familiar from her Caribbean past and she feels its growing force "like some dark ancestral spectre". At first she is confused by its presence in England and speaks to the spirits of the wind to find out why they have come: Tell me why you visit An English coast? But as the storm progresses the woman 'aligns' herself with the weather gods of her past and finds herself "riding the mystery of your storm". This sense of oneness with the storm brings about a transformation in the woman's attitude. Her feelings had been like a "frozen lake" which the storm breaks up. She had felt that she was in a different place with a different landscape, but now she understands that all places are part of the same planet and she is closer to her new landscape. The winds have Come to let me know That the earth is the earth is the earth.
Comparing Search for my Tongue and Half-Caste
Comparing "Search for my Tongue" and "Half-Caste" The poems "Search for my Tongue" and "Half-Caste" both use style and language to reflect the meaning of the poems. "Search" is about a girl is afraid she is losing her native language of Indian, while "Half" is about a man is fed up of being called "half-caste" because he is of mixed race. In "Search" another language is used - the poets mother tongue of Indian. The structure of the poem reflects how important the language is to the girl, as it is placed in the middle, to show it is central to her life. Although another language is used, the reader can still read the poem aloud due to the phonetic translations beneath the Indian script. On the other hand, it is not a foreign language that is used in "Half", but a dialect. By combining his native Caribbean dialect with Standard English words, the poet is showing that it is also his accent he is discriminated against. There is no punctuation used in the poem to enable the reader to choose when to pause - this could results in different people reading the poem in different ways. I think that the style in which both poems are written conveys a journey with a positive ending. The girl in "Search" realises that her mother tongue is always with her, and the man in "Half" is welcoming the reader to come back for more if they do so open mindedly. Similarly, both poems start with
