In this essay I will be exploring, discussing and analysing two cross cultural poems. The first is called woman work, its by Maya Angelou, the second poem is titled Lore and its writer is R.S Thomas.
In this essay I will be exploring, discussing and analysing two cross cultural poems. The first is called woman work, its by Maya Angelou, the second poem is titled Lore and its writer is R.S Thomas.
Both Angelou and Thomas expLore and present their ideas in very different and contrasting ways. Through out the two poems it is easy to gain knowledge into the poet's backgrounds and beliefs. The two poems are connected by the obvious theme of work, which both poems are clearly passionate about. However the way in which they do work or view it is very different.
Primarily culture defines a person's origin, beliefs, actions and reactions to certain situations. I will begin by looking at Maya Angelou's background. She was born in st Louis on April 4 1928 as Marguerite Johnson. She lived in a black segregated community in Arkansas with her grandmother and brother until the age of eight. Her grandmother was a hard worker. She ran a general store and the home, brought up the children and looked after her crippled son. Members of the white community however often spoke down to her grandmother. At 8 Maya moved to live with her mother in St Louis, Illinois. Her mother was also a hard worker in clubs and enjoyed the high life. At 8 Maya was raped by her mother's boyfriend She became mute until she was 13. Maya herself worked hard in her teens as a cook, waitress and brought up her son, born when she was 16. She had many occupations over the years as a poet, writer, scriptwriter and director. So Maya Angelou's formative years were spent with strong hardworking women. She experienced prejudice throughout her young life, which could explain why she seems to want to be white "cover me with white" this shows puracy and wanting to be white because generally they had more rights and an easier seeming life. Being white equalled having privileges. Maya Angelou's poetry generally shows a lot of emotions. Like her wanting to rest, practically pleading to the reader, when she has a real need to be white in order to gain privileges and Maya Angelou has nothing to call her own, "Sun, rain, curving sky Mountain, ocean, leaf and stone Star shine, moon glow You're all that I can call my own". Maya Angelou does such a long list of work daily yet; she has nothing of her own to show for it, no possessions, nothing. So instead of getting depressed because she has nothing. She is instead positive and says look I own all of this (environment) what more could I want.
R.S Thomas's background however is drastically different, which may explain why the same topics are covered in both poems but why the views on these topics are so contrasting. He had a very religious background. Thomas was born in Cardiff in 1913.his full name is Ronald Stuart Thomas (characteristically strong welsh names). He Spoke the traditional welsh language, was ordained, became a curate, then a rector in the church. He was alienated from much of welsh country life, because of his position in the clergy.. He constantly remained concerned about the hard- working farmers and farm labourers of Wales, renowned for his suspicion of solace although he was unmarried. His poetry is uncompromising: images like slate - hard and sharp: his style - spare, unflinching, honest.
In both poems the characters are symbolic of different people. In the poem Lore Job Davies is a symbolic character of most welsh farmers, who are solitary and really gain pleasure out of hard manual labour. In Woman work even though Maya Angelou is speaking in the first person (I), however she is speaking really as her grandmother and all the other hard working women she has come across in her past, she seems to be speaking out for them and writing about their experiences and troubles.
Maya Angelou's poem conveys a sense of the tedium of her work. For her it is difficult, tiring and tedious. The message of this poem is to communicate that a woman can't continue the hard work she is doing, she hasn't got the strength and she is physically exhausted and mentally worn out. She dreams of having a rest and having a better life for herself, she is standing up for her rights as a human being. She is not some ongoing machine. She wants others to take a break and dream of a better life in order to keep going and to reach their 'perfect life'.
She is expressing her views in relation to her hard work and her dreaming which sustain her to continue her daily grind.
It gives the reader a deeper understanding to how when you have nothing else you can call the environment yours and this too will help you persevere; "star shine, moon glow you're all that I can call my own". Maya Angelou is relying on the environment for strength and something to lean on and call you own something worth going on for.
R.S Thomas however has a very contrasting view to Maya Angelou's concerning work and dreams. His poem Lore conveys a sense of pride that he has in his work; "it needs more than the rains hearse, wind drawn, to pull me off". It conveys to the reader Job Davies traditional views about life, work and dreams. This poem is about how hard work, can make you livelonger, and feel happier. This hard graft benefits your health and fitness. Thomas's spiritual background makes him believe that you have to be strong minded and willed he believes in a very strong work ethic he gets this strength from his religious background and from being in tune with the natural environment around him. He communicates to the reader that inner stability and spiritual well being comes from good hard work and the environment. He expresses his feelings about how hard work is the only way to succeed in life .he believes dreams don't get you anywhere in life you should instead "live large, man, and dream small". He thinks that there is no room for dreams, they don't pay the bills or create happiness, and you should live to work and work to live. He gives the reader a deeper understanding about how a scheduled life of solid work is the way forward and the way to progress onto a life of fulfilment or happiness.
Maya Angelou's poem is written to give women who live a hectic life of work, like her some hope of a better life. She is mainly writing to under privileged black women, so that they know there are others out there, she may want the readers to provide her with sympathy and understanding. you have to dream of a better life in order to continue, this is the message Maya Angelou sends out to the reader. She understands what they are going through, being a slave to the family, with the children to look after and the husband not helping at all; "I've got the children to tend", "the tots to dress", "the baby to dry". She never once mentions any other help from a husband or other adult, which makes me conclude that there is one but doesn't help out or she is a single mother. She seems quite lonely. We can see this by the fact that she only mentions her children; she may want someone to talk to her or help her with all her work. Maya Angelou's poem could have been directed at her grandmother who cared for her until she was eight, she might be trying to say that she understands what she went through and how her grandmothers dreams kept her going. And from this experience she knows how valuable dreams can be so she want to enrich other peoples lives by telling them how valuable dreams are when you have nothing else to latch onto. Maya Angelou makes me automatically feel involved because she lists all her chores to do which everyone can relate to that someone they know do. I want to go and talk to this woman. She seems so helpless, lonely and in need of a rest and some help; "let me rest tonight" she seems to be asking, pleading for help. Because I can relate to the chores and never ending work she has to do. The cultural difference isn't a barrier whatsoever. I can easily relate to the ideas and themes of loneliness, never ending work, helplessness and dreaming being the way to progress because it gives you hope.
R.S Thomas is targeting his poem for people who dream too much and fail to make any progress because of it. He is trying to change people's viewpoints in general to match his. He is talking generally to all people because he gives a general message at the end of his poem, wanting them to know "live large, man, and dream small". Unfortunately I don't think that this message will really hit people because the poem Lore makes me keep at a distance and I don't feel involved in it. I can't really relate to anything he is ...
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R.S Thomas is targeting his poem for people who dream too much and fail to make any progress because of it. He is trying to change people's viewpoints in general to match his. He is talking generally to all people because he gives a general message at the end of his poem, wanting them to know "live large, man, and dream small". Unfortunately I don't think that this message will really hit people because the poem Lore makes me keep at a distance and I don't feel involved in it. I can't really relate to anything he is talking about, I'm not old, I don't eat porridge or drink tea, don't farm and don't live anywhere near the country. Because of the cultural difference and there being nothing in this poem I can relate to, it is a barrier for me personally. I can relate to one thing however this being the idea that dreaming doesn't get you everywhere, hard work plays an essential role in progress but I don't believe that strict hard work with no dreaming is the only way.
In "Woman Work" the poet Maya Angelou has made it so the reader can see a woman doing all this work in the reader's head, and how life must have been like for her. There are no similes in this poem. None of the 5 stanzas are used to evoke reactions in the poem either. "Woman Work" has a long first stanza and each stanza contains 4 lines. "Woman Work" is a regular 5 stanza, rhyming poem. There is a rhyming couplet in the first verse. Couplets are used in the poem to add speed to the pace, which makes sense because what she is talking about in the first stanza is a list of the chores that she does. When reading "Woman Work" the first stanza has no punctuation until the last line, so it is breathtaking, this lack of punctuation could also have been intended to show her lack of education. This list format is continuous, breathless, speeding up, never ending and then it slows down. It almost describes her daily life and the slowing down may represent her wanting to rest or being exhausted. In the second stanza the rhyme scheme changes, it slows down and the language becomes gentle. In the second stanza, Maya Angelou uses imperatives; "shine on me", "rain on me", this suggests depression and Maya Angelou pleading to the reader. The lengths of the sentences are all of a similar length, this may be because there isn't much sudden emotion shown in this poem, and it shows how here life is the same thing day after day. There are 5 stanzas in this poem I think the first is the longest because this shows how long her list of jobs to do is and how tired and weak she must be with all those chores. The first stanza is focused on the list of chores that this woman has to do each day. The second stanza is suggesting how much this woman wants a rest and is pleading for help. The fourth stanza is the most dramatic, there is a similar theme of rest to the second stanza but this one is said with more power and meaning:
"Storm blow me form here with your fiercest wind"
She needs help, really needs a rest! She wants to escape this pattern of living and daily chores, which she endures, take me away she is crying out.
The fourth stanza is much gentler in the language used here:
"Fall gently, snowflakes", "let me rest tonight".
She seems to have given up, she still has hope but I don't think she really believes that she will have a better life, she just wants a small break for one night but she doesn't believe it will happen she just hopes. In the last stanza there is a sense of depression for the reader because this woman has nothing:
"Star shine, moon glow you're all that I can call my own." after everything Maya Angelou does on a daily basis, what does she have to show for it? All her work hasn't particularly meant that she has accomplished anything in her life. Most people would stop and not do any more work because they aren't making any progress towards their goal. Yet Maya Angelou doesn't have this pessimistic attitude instead she takes it on the chin as to say, and calls the environment hers.
I feel desperate for the woman because even though she appears to work so hard and has so many things to do she has nothing whatsoever to show for it. This poem is free verse.
The overall structure entices me to keep on reading, it makes me feel tired and want a break, and I feel breathless because of the lack of punctuation in the first stanza. And the last three stanzas make me feel relieved the pace has slowed down but then I read on and she hasn't had the break I got, I feel sympathy for her and sadness. She draws the reader into her dream with the vivid images she creates.
R.S Thomas's poem has a very different structure. There are five stanzas once again; all the sentence lengths are all the same length looking, which gives the poem a very structured look along with all the stanzas looking the same length. This structured look to the poem echoes the strict, structured lifestyle that job Davies lives and the structured beliefs and views he has about dreams, work and machines. The structured poem suggests no room for dreams. Each stanza has the same rhyming scheme of a,a,b,c. these structured rhyming scheme also echoes job Davies (as mentioned before). The rhyming couplet at the beginning of each stanza keeps the poem together and helps control the flow and pace of the poem. This poem gives the overall effect of a structured life and a very organised and well-planned life.
In woman work words and phrases such as "shine on me" and "rain on me" convey a sense of neediness and depression to the reader. The phrase "you're all that I can own" intensifies the feeling helplessness and loneliness, however it is quite uplifting to call the environment her own as she doesn't have anything else. The reader empathises with Maya Angelou because she completes a very difficult daily grind and doesn't achieve anything in her life, she isn't allowed to rest when it seems to be the only thing she asks for and Maya Angelou achieves a sense of peace and tranquillity to the second part of her poem by the use of "fall gently, snowflakes cover me with white cold icy kisses and let me rest tonight". It slows the pace of the poem down and calms the atmosphere of hysteria with the list of chores earlier in the poem to one of somewhat defeat However there is still a sign of lingering hope in the poem but the determination for a better life is dying.
R.S Thomas's poem has an atmosphere of perseverance, pride and determination. Words and phrases such as "eighty-five winters old, and still alive" and "miserable? Kick my arse" convey a sense of determination and pride. The phrase "what's living but courage?" intensifies the feeling that life is nothing without courage and facing the hard facts of life, and that to survive and progress in life you have to have guts and nerves. The phrase "paunch full of hot porridge, nerves strengthened with tea" tells me that he doesn't want anything fancy in his life just the basics to keep going. The phrase "mowing where the grass grew" and "rhythm of the long scythe" this suggests the monotony and repetitiveness of his life. Words and phrases such as "what to do? Stay green. Never mind the machine, whose fuel is human souls." Tells me that job Davies is environmentally friendly, wants work to b completed by hand instead of using machines which use human spirits for fuel. I think he's saying that the human spirit only achieves anything through manual work. Maybe he believes that machines will put people out of a job and that if man used a machine to do the work, it would eat the pride and determination of that man. The rhetorical questions draw the reader in to the poem and make them consider the questions more, whilst the poet provides the answer to those questions therefore slightly changing the readers view. The words "live large, man, and dream small." I think that R.S Thomas was saying that living to work is the way forward but it takes up all your energy, and that there is no room for dreams, they don't pay, he gains a lot of strength through his environment along with his strict religious background. I also think a second meaning of this line could be that people who live have large progressive lives but the people who dream have small insignificant lives.
Maya Angelous poem makes me feel like life is too difficult to bare if you have nothing to look forward to. R.S Thomas makes me feel like life will only improve and move forward if you complete hard manual work and that if you spend all time dreaming you wont have time to work and progress. Maya Angelou makes me feel like work is very tedious and boring so does R.S Thomas's poem, but only on the surface. Once you read Thomas's poem through completely you understand how fulfilling he finds work an how it gives him everything in life he could ask for. But Angelou's poem makes me feel that the work will end eventually as long as you hope and dream but Thomas's makes me think that work will never end he is 85 and hasn't stopped working yet so it makes me believe if you just continue with hard work all your life you wont be able to stop. R.S Thomas finds happiness and strength in his work so why give it up whereas Maya thinks of it as chores and lists of boring tasks, but for R.S Thomas it is almost a hobby or pleasurable activity one which he wouldn't dream of giving up on.
It is clear that both poets have chosen words carefully to achieve certain effects. Maya Angelou's poem uses more colloquial language than R.S Thomas's poem Lore.
Words and phrases such as "The cane to be cut", "I gotta clean up this hut" and "And the cotton to Pick", this conveys the fact that her poem is set in southern USA. We know this because of the way she talks 'cane' is grown in southern USA, 'hut' is what she calls her house and cotton also grows in USA. Also the title "woman work" is the dialect of a black American, it also shows her lack of education because it is grammatically incorrect or she may just be reaching out to her audience for empathy.
The words "paunch", "peat-black", "scythe" and "lithe" are all associated with the language of the countryside and the language of Whales. Even the title "Lore" means traditional folk Lore tales. These words are from these cultures because they are unfamiliar to where I live and they suit the locations I have mentioned very well, they would be likely to be used in speech there.
Maya Angelou constantly wants to rest throughout her poem. "And cool my brow again", this suggests she believes everyone needs a little rest in order to continue, its almost fundamental to rest. She mentions needing to rest three times in her poem "till I can rest again", "let me rest tonight", the whole time she is working she seems to be dreaming of having a rest instead of getting on with the work so she can have a rest.
Job Davies has a lot of pride in the work he does "miserable? Kick my arse". He is saying how could he be miserable, he believes he has gained so much out of work he doesn't regret anything. "What's living but courage", this tells me that R.S Thomas believes that living is nothing without continual work and grind, if you can t be bothered to keep going you will have no life. "Rhythm of the long scythe kept this tall frame lithe", R.S Thomas is saying that work helps you keep fit it is all the sitting around and dreaming that will kill you he's 85 and still going the same a she did years ago due to his hard work which keeps him healthy. "Never mind the machine" he doesn't believe in using machines to do the work that a person can, why would you want to with all the benefits to your health. Anyway the machines "fuel is human souls", it will eat your soul make you lazy and you will lack effort and pride, machines eat a mans character and heart. "Live large, man, and dream small", R,S Thomas wants people to live to work and work to live. He's saying work as much as possible so you can progress with your life there is no room for dreams, they don't pay.
There are a few striking words throughout the two poems. In Maya's poem she comments; "storm blow me from here with you're fiercest wind" this changes the overall 'angle' or tone of the poem, and she seems now to resent work much more than she did in the earlier stanzas of the poem. She uses powerful words, "fiercest wind", she really wants to get away, she doesn't say strong wind she says "fiercest", which makes her seem helpless and needy. Only the fiercest wind can take her out of this miserable situation. Maya Angelou uses a few metaphors throughout her poem; "curving sky". This seems like a hidden meaning, her saying she is trapped and this could suggest her looking for a rainbow or horizon, like something to look forward to. "You're all that I can call my own" this phrase makes Maya seem desperate like after everything she does every day she still has nothing to show for it which really makes me want to reach out and help her. She seems so helpless and lonely.
In Thomas's poem he uses some very powerful, harsh and striking words that almost catch the reader off guard, certainly more so than in Maya's poem. "Slow poison" he is talking about how aging has occurred, but makes it sound very nasty and almost like when you are aging you are slowly decomposing. "Kick my arse" he is showing anger towards people who think he might be miserable due to his aging, he uses this harsh language at the beginning of his second stanza which is quite a shock to the reader yet quite an enlightening experience into the mind of job Davies and R.S Thomas. "The great perch of my laugh" it makes Ronald sound quiet superior to everyone else. "Peat black" these words are quite depressing and sombre. "Whose fuel is human souls" this phrase uses very strong language, it almost makes me quiver, the thought of machines eating human's souls.
Maya Angelou uses imperative verbs like "shine on me" and "rain on me", these show that Maya Angelou was desperate when writing this poem. In Maya Angelous poem she says, "let me rest tonight" this is an explicit meaning, it is clear that she just wants a rest. "Cover me with white" this is an implicit or explicit meaning. It could just suggest the cooling effect of the snow. Or it could mean that the woman wants to be white because they have easier seeming lives and more rights or it could just be the colour of ice or it could mean puracy. Another implicit meaning in the poem woman work is "curving sky" it could mean many things horizon, rainbow or her feeling enclosed.
In Lore there is only one implicit meaning:
"Live large, man, and dream small."
I believe that R.S Thomas means that people who live have large progressive lives but the people who dream have small insignificant lives.
All the other meanings in the poem are explicit like "miserable? Kick my arse", its obvious he's not miserable and "what to do? Stay green", he thinks people should be environmentally friendly and gain strength from the environment. Also In Mayas poem she uses alliteration "shine on me sunshine" and "star shine". One phrase that does stick out to me personally in her poem is:
"And the cotton to pick"
Its just something I can relate to whatsoever but then again it would have been a big part of traditional jobs for black slaves which they would often gone in and out of all year long in the south. This idea also links to her time with her grandmother in Arkansas when the customers were all nearly all cotton pickers, even the women like the one in her poem who had all the other things to do on a daily basis.
In R.S Thomas's poem Lore he has a few very short sentences one is even only one word. The impact a one worded sentence has on the reader is the extra impact this has the reader has more time to ponder on the word which may provoke a thought in this example it was a rhetorical question:
"Miserable"
I think that R.S Thomas wanted it to be rhetorical and it would have been to a small percentage of readers but not to most beforehand he is saying how he is eighty-five and still farming and staying outdoors most of his life, for most and me especially that doesn't sound fun, im sure most would rather be inside watching Eastenders with a cup of tea in one hand and the local newspaper in the other well at his age at least, but he certainly doesn't seem to be one to conform to anyone else's beliefs.
There is one word that does shock me: "treachery of the seasons" it seems like someone has betrayed you, well that's the context most people would use it in, but it works and makes the readers mind jump up and wonder what will this poem be like, what sort of character is the writer, because form this line he seems bitter and resentful but you find out. This could be because of his religious experience and upbringing that there is no grey everything in the world is either black or white. He doesn't appear to look at things form other people's points of view.
He asks a lot of rhetorical questions in his poem:
"Miserable?" "What's living but courage?" and "What to do?"
I think he is trying to change people's views and show them what the correct answer to the question is. Unlike Maya Angelou, who simply presents her ideas unbiasdly as they are for you, she lets you make up your own mind and because of this she seems more helpless and honest, this is why more people would probably prefer her poem because she is not forcing her beliefs on anyone else like R.S Thomas.
R.S Thomas uses metaphors in many of his poems he chose to only use one in this one, probably didn't want to seem soft or gentle because this is the image I get of a person when there is a lot of metaphors in their poems.
"Bearded with golden dew" Thomas is describing the grass he also uses personification in the same phrase to describe the grass looking like there is a beard on it.
The vocabulary between the two poems is very contrasting. In the poem Lore R.S Thomas physicalises a lot of things "eighty-five winters old". Instead of saying he is 85 he says how many winters he has witnessed in his lifetime, he seems to have a different approach to many things even work. Instead of using machines to do work more easily he wants to spend more time doing work by hand which would appear odd to many "never mind the machine". He uses harsh language; "treachery", "kick my arse!" He chooses to use strong, powerful language; this could be because of his scheduled upbringing and life in a very organised strict church environment. He doesn't walk around a topic he bluntly states his views and opinions, as not to 'dawdle'. In the church you mainly encounter a yes or no opinion about topics, clergy are straight to the point and quick to state it like in R.S Thomas's poem. In one word "treachery" you understand his opinion about the seasons.
Maya Angelou keeps language simple and straightforward "the floor to mop" and let me rest tonight. There aren't any hidden meanings in her poem it is simple and easy to read unlike Lore. This could be because she is showing how this woman didn't have much of an education and doesn't know how to use 'fancy' types of language. She does however use alliteration: "star shine" I think is to slow the pace of the poem down and to keep the poem together and make the tone more gentle near the end.
When reading "Woman Work" the first stanza has no punctuation until the last line, so it is breathtaking literally. This may have been done to show how like a slave she is always busy and never stops. This could have also been done also to emphasise the fact that there was a severe lack of education in Maya Angelous life.
The message that the poet is trying to get through to the reader in "Woman Work" is how horrible life can be and the things you have to do to live. Also when I was reading this poem I was trying to think what the woman in this poem would have done when she was educated. Two things came into my mind.
When there is no punctuation in the first stanza, this makes me the reader breathless when reading through. It obviously changes the way I read the poem and after I read the list stanza at the beginning I fell relieved its over, but then it makes the reader realise that the woman in the poem still hasn't had a rest and I want her to feel relieved like I did. I think that Maya did this to reflect the fact that she didn't have an education.
R.S Thomas however has a lot of punctuation in his poem. He asks many questions, has a few very short sentences and uses an assortment of commas and full stops:
"What to do?", "large, man, and" and "miserable". It affects the way I read very much, because all the punctuation make me have to pause a lot when reading the poem through, but this could be useful because it gave me longer to consider the points made in the poem. I think the poet has done this to show how organised his life is and how he doesn't miss anything out, I also think it might be used to change the readers views about the issues discussed and the characters personality throughout. The rhetorical questions and exclamations show the irony and sarcasm of R.S Thomas's character.
I believe the excessive amount of punctuation in this poem is emphasising the poet's very organised and scheduled life, living in a church and having strict rules to follow.
The overall image I received form the poem Lore was that of an old bitter and proud man by himself working his field to it's fullest. I think of him doing the same routine year after year, quite a repetitive lifestyle a bit unfulfilling for most. He seems very strong minded and willed, all he wants is a simple breakfast nothing luxurious just some plain tea and porridge, no extras, he doesn't even want milk or honey for his porridge just the basics for him. I can imagine he has a small wooden shack with no other family, he lives in solitary.
In R.S Thomas's poem he uses personification:
"Bearded with golden dew"
From this use of personification I visualise a golden shadow over a field of never ending grass. The grass is shimmering and seems very inviting to touch almost magical. Within this same line he uses a metaphor. The words golden dew could also describe how much he likes his lifestyle and how everything suits him perfectly. Again this reinforces my earlier thoughts about the beard on the grass. I believe that the poet put these to figurative language devices in the same line in order to maybe shock the reader because I usually associate these devices as the poet writing quiet gently and being a bit of a 'softy'. But job Davies seems to be a completely opposite character to that so it throws the reader off a bit and keeps you wondering. R.S Thomas could have done this because it shows that there is only a very minimal room for such 'nonsense' in the world of work and that's why he hasn't used these literary devices throughout his poem. This might be due to his very organized upbringing in a church environment where organisation and scheduled life is everything.
In the poem Lore the rhyming scheme is a s follows; a,a,b,c this rhyming scheme doesn't change whatsoever throughout, I think the poet did this to show his background and the character in poem (Job Davies) views about how an scheduled hard working life is the only way to advance in life. In the poem woman work the rhyming scheme varies a lot throughout. In the first stanza the rhyming scheme is rhyming couplets throughout. Then in all the following four line stanzas the rhyming scheme is that the last words from the second line and fourth line rhyme.
In the poem woman work the rhyming couplets in the first stanza help the flow and pace of the poem at the beginning it adds to the list effect of the first stanza, it also makes the woman seem quite bitter about what she has to do in a sarcastic sort of tone I can imagine her reading this out. The other four stanzas hold the poem together and slow the pace down more. The way in which I read the first stanza in a list form is reminiscent of her never ending seeming list of daily responsibilities.
In the poem Lore the last three stanzas are all just pairs of rhyming couplets. This makes the poem quite a country sounding one sort of just bopping along, line, rhyme, line, and rhyme, like a tractor almost. This tractor sound I read to is extremely reminiscent and tied into the theme of 'job Davies working his field'. The strict rhyme scheme that R.S Thomas uses echoes his strict schedules-'hum-drum' working life suggests no room for dreams.
Both poets have used rhythm and rhyme to constantly add to the theme of work and specifically either a list of chores or tending to the field. They have both used rhythm to correct the pace and tone of the poem to the part of the poem they focusing on at the time.
These two poems have taught me that there are a variety of different views about life and work in the world; much of this though I think depends on the culture people come from and their background.
Maya Angelou's poem has shown me that people tend to desire what is in most circumstances very hard to attain in their situations like her desperately want rest.
Also that if other people close to you have suffered from certain situations you are likely to find those situations for you unbearable and make them seem worse to yourself than they really are.
R.S Thomas has shown me that your background especially past experiences (him working in a church) really changes people's views and beliefs and the way they act in situations. Because of his working in a scheduled environment for so long it's the only way he knows how and therefore considers it best, his poem is organised, the rhyming couplets are organised, the literary devices are organised, the length of the lines are organised and the length of the stanzas are as well. You can see the effect this has had on him just by looking closely at the structure of his poem let alone the content.
I strangely enough prefer the poem Lore due to the fact that it is so very organised and this is made so obvious to the reader just by the structure of the poem that job Davies means business. I like job Davies attitudes to just getting on and progressing by hard work. I like his attitudes towards using time efficiently and completing hard work in order to get on and achieve instead of wasting time daydreaming about a better future why not start working and get to that better future. I like the imagery created by this poem and especially enjoy the jugging along tractor sound I hear when I read the last three stanzas. I thought it was strange, but different to have the only two literary devices in one line. I thought it was a really cool round about way of describing his age when he said how many winters he had witnessed, its like saying how many days he had witnessed.
Conclusion
Rhyme rhythm
imagery
What I liked
I liked the images that the poem Lore provoked in my mind. I really appreciated how R.S Thomas had a different angle and used the amount of winters he had witnessed to describe his age instead of just saying im 85. It really hit home and made me invisualise all the winters he had been part of and, I began to visualise where and what he was doing in each winter, like being a toddler, then at school and then ploughing the fields for the rest. It really got me thinking about how one man had seen 85 winters, it makes it seem a much longer time than just saying im 85 years old, it made the reader question what sort of character job Davies and R.S Thomas was.
Vocabulary-Word association
Onomatopoeia
He uses both personification and alliteration in the same life is it possible he is saying that there is not enough room for these types of dreamy off the point things in life, it's too un-scheduled.
Sunday, 19 January 2003
Cross Culture Poetry Comparison