In What Ways do the Poets Studied Write about Childhood Experiences?

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GCSE Post 1914 Poetry Essay Coursework

In What Ways do the Poets Studied Write about Childhood Experiences?

“Discord in Childhood” by David Herbert Lawrence

“Piano” by David Herbert Lawrence

“Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas

“Death of a Naturalist” by Seamus Heaney

        The poets studied all write about their childhood in their poetry, but there are subtle differences in the way that the poet has expressed himself and in how the poem comes across to the reader. The view of the poets’ changes between the three, and the setting of the poem have both similarities and differences. All four poems are written about childhood, but there are differences in structure and format between each poet.

        Each poem is written about the poet’s childhood, but they are not all written from the same point of view. Dylan Thomas and Seamus Heaney write their poems from the view of the child. However they have the feel of an adult telling the story for the child, but the story is told as the child would have seen it. David uses this technique in his poem “Discord in Childhood”, but in “Piano” the poem is centred on the poet looking back at the memory, rather than re-living the memory in the poem. This is used to great effect as the poet shows the reader a compassionate side which is aided by their style. The other three poems are written as the child, but all differ slightly in their portrayal of the child. In “Discord in Childhood” the poet shows a disturbing scene which the child in question is taking in to every last detail. This shows a traumatised child going through a harrowing episode in his life of listening to a member of his family being abused and makes the reader aware of the situation that David would often find himself in as a child. The other poems portray the child as a happy, care-free character who just enjoys the delights of a rural life. “Death of a Naturalist” is written in the style of a child writing it at the time. He uses phrases like “mammy frog” and “slime kings” which are childlike in their use. He also makes references to things like a child - he talks about telling the weather from the frog’s colour. “Fern Hill” however, is written in a more grand style similar to that of an adult expressing in words a memory which he could not have described previously as a child. Dylan Thomas tells his poem in a much more elaborate manner to try a get across an idea that he could not do before.

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        Childhood is often referred to by many writers as the happiest times of your life. Seamus Heaney’s and Dylan Thomas’s poems show that they believe in that principle. However, DH Lawrence’s poems show that he did not have a happy childhood and he makes that point abundantly clear. In “Death of a Naturalist”, Heaney shows that he once had a love of nature but, after one incident, he lost that love forever. The structure of the poem shows his change of opinion: the first verse uses adjectives and nice images that infer that the subject he is talking about is ...

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