Leonard’s poem, entitled “Unrelated Incidents” has no punctuation or capital letters. The way it’s written is also difficult to understand. but it gives an idea of different spelling, within the same language, called dialect. The poem is also about the language, and some kind of difficulties by public speaking (i.e. news).
Although both poems are about language, they also say, how important it is, as a part of culture and our identity.
Both poets address the reader directly: “You ask me what I mean” and “lik wanna yoo”; they remind the reader that not everyone speaks or thinks in Standard English. Doing so, they make reader feel a bit uncomfortable, being on the top of the situation, to make you ask yourself: “What if, I wouldn’t understand the dialect?”
There are also many metaphors, mainly in Bhatt’s poem. She describes being between two languages as disadvantage: “two tongues in your mouth”. But also she feels like her mother’s tongue is like a part of her physical identity. The poet develops the idea of her ‘tongue’ as a physical thing using metaphor of plant: “it grows back, a stump of a shoot”. This means, that her language (tongue) is a deeply rooted part of her identity, exactly as plants and cultures (use of metaphor and topic of the poem). Therefore the metaphor is strongly related to all the ideas about the poem.
In “Unrelated Incidents”, language is compared to the power: “BBC accent” and “thi trooth”. It’s also suggested, that languages and dialects reflect social status, but author is strongly opposed to this. We can say, that Leonard’s poem is didactic, but “Search for my tongue” explores the role of language. Sujata Bhatt feels, that her mother’s tongue is a thing of beauty, saying “it blossoms out of my mouth”. This suggests, that in her language (Gujerati), tongue is so vital and expressive. She’s also trying to put reader in her position, for more insightful understanding of the poem.
Both poets focus on language and identity, however, Leonard is ‘challenging’ our attitudes in a more aggressive tone: “belt up”. Each poet has different focus. Leonard’s is on social status and power. Bhatt focuses on her own personal feelings. Both are trying to say that, no one can change how we are, until we do it ourselves. In those cases, language can create social and personal barriers.
The “special thing” about both poems is, that authors are trying to tell you about language, identity and mainly - themselves, using many sub-texts and insightful phrases. This is fantastic way of relating simple style build of the poem, with own thoughts. Also, each time we read those poems, we are experiencing something new, earning even more knowledge on author’s intentions and his opinions.
- Compare language.
- Compare the way that poets address and challenge the reader (tone etc.).
- Compare the use of metaphors and similes.
- Compare the focus on the language.
- The special thing is, that both authors are trying to tell you about language, using many sub-texts and insightful phrases.
