Compare and Contrast Horses by Edwin Muir and Pike by Ted Hughes
Harry YandleEnglishMr Evans Compare and Contrast “Horses” by Edwin Muir and “Pike” by Ted Hughes ________________ Both “Horses” by Edwin Muir and “Pike” have a title which is a clear statement of intent on what the poem is about. However both of these poems seem to symbolise something more complex, on top of the simple animal poem which it could be interpreted as. Both Ted Hughes and Edwin Muir, ‘animal poets’ have a pastoral lust for the countryside and were writing around the time when Darwin published his “Origin of Species”; This could explain why both poets seem to portray their respective animals rather negatively and yet in conclusion, the poets seem to relish nature despite being fearful of it; “I must pine // Again for that dread country crystalline”. Edwin Muir has a paradoxical wishing for the dreadful country side as it has been taken away from him and hast lost the magic and down-to-earth innocence he had as a child. Hughes’s poetry however dwells on the innate violence in the natural world and on instinctive predatory behaviour; yet he sees to view it as appropriate. He attempts to reconcile what at first appears to be a horrible violence in nature. Perhaps human beings are no different from a creature such as the pike, driven by impulse and appetite in a universe that follows no moral law but eat or be eaten. Hughes clearly views
Harmonium and Praise Song for my Mother Comparison English Literature GCSE
Harmonium and Praise Song for my Mother Comparison AQA English Lit Poetry Moon on the Tides Relationships GCSE In ‘Harmonium’, Armitage presents an awkward relationship between a weak, aging gfather and his embarrassed son, who finds it difficult to express his feelings. Whereas, in ‘Praise Son’, Nichols portrays the love an appreciation a daughter feels for her inspirational mother, suggesting that despite physical separation, they are still as close as the you before. Armitage presents the importance of the speaker’s father and the harmonium is to him-how closely they belong to his heart. “But its hummed harmonics still struck a chord.” ‘Struck a chord’ is usually a saying which usually describes an experience that has had an impact on someone and stayed in their memory for a long time. This suggests that the harmonium has had an impact for a long time, which is suggested by the ‘still’. ‘Still’ also shows that the speaker still values it for memories he was provided with when he was younger. ‘Struck a chord’ is also a pun because the harmonium cab play chords. ‘Struck’ suggests a sudden or surprising action, so Armitage could be showing surprise at the effect of the instrument on the speaker. In the stanza before Armitage describes how old, weary but experienced the harmonium is; ‘ages the harmonium’s softwood case’, which brings
Comparison of 'Out of the Blue' and 'Futility'
Emily Parker Comparison of ‘Out of the Blue’ and ‘Futility’ ‘Futility’ mourns the sad ironic death of a young soldier. An address to the sun, which gave the life to the earth only for them to be cut down in this futile way, states a larger irony. The poem concerns this death and all life in which such death occurs. The character in the poem hopes that the sun will revive the dead one, as it had formerly done whilst he was at home in England. ‘Out of the Blue’ tells the story of a trapped victim inside the towers who pleads for help but it's impossible. The use of the word ‘you’ show he addresses camera men, TV watchers, God and terrorists among many others observing the attack. The titles of both poems reflect either the purpose or tone of the poem. The definition of futility is the quality of being incapable of producing any result or effect. This highlights the poets view on war which is that it is pointless and no glory or honour is achieved just a wasteful loss of lives. This tells us that the poem is going to reflect quality and fragility of life right through. The word ‘blue’ in the title ‘Out of the Blue’ could symbolise many things. It is a cold word associated with winter and chill which could be a metaphor for the responsible, cold hearted terrorists. Blue is also associated with unhappiness and hurt therefore it could also imply
Alice Walker (Poem at Thirty-Nine), U. A. Fanthorpe (Half past Two) and D. H. Lawrence (Piano) have all portrayed powerful emotional memories and reflections in their poems
Intense personal memories and reflections have always been an inspiration to poets. Explore this concept with regards to the poems that you have studied referring to three poems in detail and at least three poems from your wider reading. The theme of reflections is something frequently explored in literature. It is truly a powerful force. It can bestow courage, feelings of warmth, and even overwhelm you and this is exactly what the below six poets did by manipulating their personal and emotional reflections to generate an emotive impact on us by using a variety of literary devices to present to us a ‘window’ into their pasts. Alice Walker (Poem at Thirty-Nine), U. A. Fanthorpe (Half past Two) and D. H. Lawrence (Piano) have all portrayed powerful emotional memories and reflections in their poems. “Poem At Thirty-Nine” was concerning a woman who learnt everything from her father and desired to do the simple things he did during his life although she was very privileged to acquire an education hence she could better herself in life. “Follower” by Seamus Heaney was a poem that related to the admiration of their parent. “Half-Past Two” evaluated the predicament of a young boy in an after school punishment for “Something Very Wrong” but he was instructed to remain in the schoolroom until “half- past two” but he did not understand the concept of time. “My
Poetry comparison between 'Long Distance' and 'The Sick Equation'.
A Poetry Comparison between Long Distance and The Sick Equation In these poems the poets explore the theme of relationships. One poem deals with grief about divorce whilst the other tackles the taboo topic of death. While “Long Distance” is a poem about the abundance of love, conquering even death, “The Sick Equation” is about the total lack of it. Both poems share the themes of ‘family’ and ‘love’, but there are also many contrasts too. ‘The Sick Equation’ by Brian Patten is a poem which portrays a young child’s struggle to cope with the ‘adult world’ and the long-term effects his parents’ quarrelling has on him. This poem deals mainly with divorce, and the child’s response and feelings towards it. Therefore, it is indeed a very hard-hitting poem. As well as tackling the topic of divorce, he also writes about the overall concepts of growing up and the difference such changes make in later life. Long Distance’ by Tony Harrison begins to talk about the widowed father’s reaction to the death of his beloved wife. The poem shows the reader how the man deals with the situation and portrays that he seems to be in a state of denial. Although he still manages to deal with it, pretending that his wife is still around and performing many actions as if she was still with him. “And still went to renew her transport pass” this line tells the
Both on a portrait of a deaf man and Brendon Gallacher, are about a narrator who grieves the loss of the person they love
Both “on a portrait of a deaf man” and “Brendon Gallacher”, are about a narrator who grieves the loss of the person they love. In “on a portrait of a deaf man”, the narrator mourns the loss of his father conveying his bitterness towards god for the mistreatment of his father. In Brendon Gallacher, the narrator loses her best friend who she feels possessive towards. Both poets use language to help the reader visualise their characters feelings and personality. In on a portrait of a deaf man, images of decay as well as words associated with death is used to help the audience visualise the physical reality of his father’s death. “His mouth is wide to let the London clay come in” conveys his anger towards the mistreatment his father had received by God as well as shocking the audience to highlight this reality. Phrases such as “maggots in his eyes” can be seen as shocking and vivid and this further emphasis the image the narrator sees in connection with how his father who “smiled and looked so wise” has now turned out. In Brendon Gallacher, childish language and description is used to help the audience visualise the narrator’s childhood. “He had six brothers and I had one” can be conveyed as quite childish and this might have been used to emphasise that the narrator is talking about her past when she was younger. In on a portrait if a deaf man,
Compare how poets present the experience of soldiers in Bayonet Chargeand one other poem from Conflict.
Compare how poets present the experience of soldiers in 'Bayonet Charge'and one other poem from Conflict. In Bayonet Charge we follow the protagonists view throughout a battle, and Hughes questions the reasons behind war and if it's justified. A point further reinstated in Futility. The lead character in Bayonet Charge "suddenly" awakes and is now "running". We feel that the protagonist is unprepared, and here this is a metaphor to portray how men are joining the war unaware of what is to come, a sense of bewilderment in a result of the misleading propaganda via the government. Moreover, this emotion is exemplified again when Hughes incorporates imagery to describe his uniform as "hot khaki", suggesting he's sweating with fear, as if he's been misplaces into a battle scenario. We feel terror for him as if it's like ourselves being there, we aren't expecting it, the effect is one of fear for the soldier. The point is further reinstated in Owen's Futility, as once again the narrator describes how men were hushed into war, unaware of the grunt of what is to come. The fields are "half sown" almost as if the person worked on his farm was thrown into a battle ground, without even having the chance to finish his farm. Also suggesting a sense of potential, this man could have been an avid farmer, yet all this has been crushed due to the aftermath of war on his life. Moreover,
Compare and contrast "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence with "The Chimney Sweeper" in songs of Experience by William Blake. Discuss other poems by Blake that appear to be critical of the society in which he lived.
Compare and contrast "The Chimney Sweeper" in Songs of Innocence with "The Chimney Sweeper" in songs of Experience by William Blake. Discuss other poems by Blake that appear to be critical of the society in which he lived. William Blake composed two famous poem collections entitled 'Songs of Innocence' and 'Songs of Experience'. Within these he reveals harsh opinions of the 18th century and his anti establishment views of the society in which he lived. From these collections I am going to compare and contrast the two poems "The Chimney Sweeper" from songs of Innocence and "The Chimney Sweeper" from songs of Experience. Within this essay I will analyse the way in which his opinions are portrayed and the way imagery, structure and form create extreme visual effects. I will also review two other poems entitled "The garden of love" and "The little vagabond" which further reflect Blake's critical outlook on social inequality, the disparity caused by wealth and divides of class, and the unsavoury social consequences of selfishness, greed, and power lust from society's authorised members. Blake was writing during the harsh conditions of the industrial revolution where the world was changing and developing at a tremendous rate. It was a time of great political upheaval and paranoia, resulting in Britain's powerful and wealthy classes fearful of revolt. The poorer citizens within
Poetry Comparsion of 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols and 'Blessing' Imitaz Dharker
Island Man by Grace Nichols/Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker This essay is a comparison of the two poems 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols and 'Blessing' by Imtiaz Dharker. I am going to focus on the similarities and differences between the two poems, i.e. what they are about, where they are set and the style that they are written in. The first poem 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols is set partly on a Caribbean island and partly in London. It is about a man who comes from the Caribbean who is now living in London and is reminiscing about his island home where the weather was hot and there was a lot of sun, which was personified in the phrase "the sun surfacing defiantly", implying that the weather is consistently hot and we are given the impression that the 'Island Man' misses it's warmth. 'Island Man' describes a peaceful and tranquil life "the fishermen pushing out to sea", it illustrates a simple life which is free from the worries of the modern city life is set mostly in a place where there is plenty of water to drink and they are surrounded by the sea, also the land is "emerald" which suggests that the land is well-watered, the picture is idyllic. In 'Blessing' the land is scorched by the sun, "There never is enough water.", everyone is desperate for water. It is set in a little town just outside a city, probably a shanty town or maybe even a refugee ghetto. The characters in
Describe the common themes that appear in 'Hide and Seek' and 'Half-past two'
Describe the common themes that appear in 'Hide and Seek' and 'Half-past two' 'Hide and seek' by Vernon Scannell is about a young, excitable infant playing the childhood game of hide and seek. It begins by revealing the juvenile excitement experienced by a child when playing a game - 'Call out. Call loud: I'm ready! Come and find me!' Through the poets use of exclamation marks we can see the child's joy at partaking in the game. It is exhilarating and fun time for the child, but it is also very competitive. The manner in which he hides shows this competitiveness; he meticulously hides under dirty sacking in the garden shed and makes sure that his feet aren't 'sticking out' . Also when his friends are seeking him, they are portrayed as 'prowling in', and 'whispering at the door'. This further intensifies the degree of competitiveness within the game. However he is determined to win the game, and after a lengthy space of time he thinks, 'It is time to let them know that you're the winner'. By know the child is supremely confident that he has emerged the victor, however it only exaggerates his betrayal and feeling of abandonment when he finds out the truth. Finally when the boy victoriously emerges from his hiding place, and shouts 'I've won, I've won! Here I am!' he is greeted by a scene of nothingness -'The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs'. His childish dreams of