‘Repetition’ is used in ‘Amends’ with the phrase ‘as it’. It emphasizes the constant movements of the moon and its progression. We can link this to ‘Time’ as it also shows a sense of power. Also, it seems to be highlighting the fact that the moon is controlling every single existence on Earth. From this, the idea of how nature has an important impact on human’s lives is being implied. Furthermore, the use of diction is present with the verbs on motions of the moon, for example: ‘picks’, ‘licks’, and ‘flicks’. This makes the imagery more realistic and fascinating to the readers.
The number of images in both the two poems is immense. Allen Curnow and Adrienne Rich also use a lot of techniques in order to indicate the vividness of the images. Two of the techniques that they have in common are personification and metaphor. In ‘Time’, Allen Curnow personifies time with pronoun ‘I’. It is effective as time is brought closer to lives with our everyday ordinary objects. The images that time was personified to be are everything in life: ‘pines’, ’mileage’, ‘morning’, ‘park’, ‘magpie’ etc. These can be usable objects or beautiful flowers and birds. ‘I, Time, call down, condense and confer.’ once again gives a sense of power. Metaphor is used in the last stanza: ‘Am island, am sea, am father, farm, and friend’. The images that time is compared to are categorized as nature (island, sea) and human (father, friend). Consequently, it also suggests the relationship between human and nature.
Personification in the poem ‘Amends’ is present through the descriptions on movements of the moon. Words like: ‘picks’, ‘licks’, ‘flicks’, ‘pours’, ‘leans’ etc. implies the gentleness of the actions. This poem is about the progress of a moving moon, traveling, looking down from the sky to care for every little thing on Earth. Therefore, the verbs personify the actions of the moon, make it seems like a kind and cautious person. Metaphor is also emphasized in the last stanza of this poem. The imagery of how the moon ‘dwells upon the eyelids of the sleepers’ suggests how the moon looks after the sleepers – reference to human beings. The connotation of ‘dwells’ is to live; ‘eyelids’ are the vulnerable and very thin skin that covers our eyes. The metaphor meaning of this phrase is to suggest that the moon will always be with us, to protect us especially when things turn hard and we become weak. This has a special link to the metaphysical idea as the moon can be a symbol of nature and here we have a special connection with humanity as the fact that mother nature will always look out for us is present using imagery in this poem.
Finally, the two poets creatively succeeded in forming/structuring their poems in many unique ways. However, they have one similarity in doing that, which is the use of enjambment. In ‘Time’, enjambment is widely used in the first 4 stanzas. After each sentence, there is no punctuation, therefore the reason for this can be suggested as the poet wants the readers to keep on reading. This is a smart way to indicate how time passes. Time does not wait for anyone or anything, it keep on moving unstoppable. That might be the reason why Allen Curnow has chosen to use enjambment in this poem.
Dissimilar to that, in ‘Amends’, enjambment is used throughout the whole poem. The purpose of this is also different. In this poem, Adrienne Rich uses this technique of structuring to reflect movements of the moon. She wants that as the readers read on, they also follow a cycle that the moon is moving and step by step starting to see the whole world. It is shown that we all are under the moon’s protection.
In conclusion, the poets are trying to demonstrate a metaphysical idea on the connection between humanity and nature. They both have individual impact on each other. Both the poems have captivating concepts to lead us to that belief. They help us to realize that nature is closer to humans than we think it is. Nature provides us with necessity, care and protection without us perceiving to acknowledge it. Each poem has different ways of delivering that message to us. In my opinion, the metaphysical idea is much more easier to identified with the poem ‘Amends’ because the image of nature is already present by the moon and all the techniques are used by the poets appropriately. ‘Time’ is obviously a relevant choice for poems on the connection between human and nature. However its concept is much more complicated than the concept of the moon.
