Hawa Musa Larsen English Literature (AP) 25 October 2017 Compare and Contrast Poems Essay The poems “When I have Fears” by John Keats and “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Longfellow have many similarities and differences in their overall messages, on their views on life and death, and their views on their goals in life. The two poets can be seen as opposites as one is more hopeful and optimistic, while the other is more pessimistic and accepting of failure. The two poems surround the fear of dying before accomplishing life dreams. In “When I have Fears”, Keats is afraid of his life ending before he has a chance to leave a mark on the world by becoming a famous poet. You can see this in lines 1 and 2 of his poem: “I have fears that I may cease to be / Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain” (Lines 1-2). At the same time, Longfellow has the same fear in “Mezzo Cammin”, where he’s afraid of dying without accomplishing his life goals/dreams. This is shown in lines 1 and 2 of his poem as well: “Half my life is gone, and I have let / The years slip from me and have not fulfilled / The aspirations of my youth”. Both poets are sorrow in not fulfilling their life dreams and talk about death. The poems talk about how death is inevitable and is fast approaching. The authors convey their fear of the passing of time, and how before they know it, they’ll reach the end of their lives. They talk about their regrets and their past experiences with life. Keats talks about how uneventful his life
One day, two potters were spinning their wheels. Each potter had an onlooker watching them throughout their work. Both of them are fantastic potters, but they both have their secrets to each magical piece that they create. In the passage, ¨A Single Shard,¨ by Linda Park, and the poem, ¨Turn,Turn, My Wheel,¨ by Henry Longfellow there are many similarities and differences about how the speaker, and the narrator in the story view the potters.
Langston Hughes was an American poet whose African American themes made him an important contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. In his poems, “I, Too” and “Dream Variations” Hughes expresses his feelings about racial segregation and discrimination during his lifetime. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of poor treatment and hope of African Americans in the 1920’s; Langston’s poems tell his story and opinion on this certain time of his life.
The speaker believes that love is hard to come by and that he is sad that he may not encounter it, since death is just around the corner. The speaker then also talks of “unreflecting love,” thus depicting that the speaker has never experienced real love and is unlikely to ever experience it, because he is so worried about death’s fast approach. However, at the end of “When I have Fears,” the speaker reflects that his goals for literary prowess and love are “nothingness” in comparison to the grand scope of things. There is hope after death, and Keats’ narrator finds solace in this. Although he has not achieved everything he had wanted, the speaker is still appreciative of what he was able to do. On the other hand, Longfellow’s speaker in “Mezzo Cammin” takes on a much more sorrowful and negative tone. Using diction of “half of my life,” “years slip,” and “not fulfilled,” Longellow shows that the speaker is really dreading and mourning his day to go. It seems that the speaker’s fear of death completely and irresolutely hinders him from accomplishing any of his goals. He is too busy being pessimistic about his life that he is unable to live in the present. He is also unable to dream into the future. Unlike Keats’ speaker, Longfellow’s speaker is completely stunted in from any possible growth. He is too stuck in the Past and its images of “smoking roof, soft bells, and gleaming lights.” This hazy
In the two poems, “When I Have Fears” by John Keats and “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, both of the poets deal with the death that they believe is quickly approaching them and think back to their regrets in life. Keats during the time when this poem had been written had just seen his brother die of tuberculosis and due to this he believed he too would soon die. Longfellow at the time writing his poem had been 35 and due to this was most likely experiencing a mid-life crisis. Similarities between the two poems include the poem’s theme and the thoughts of death that the two men are dealing with. The main
The poem Mezzo Cammin by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow explains his regretful life and his reasoning at why he didn’t live it to its full potential and how he looks at his past. It then looks to his future as being near and bearing a huge weight down on him. The way Longfellow talks about his life is depressing. He doesn’t speak of the good accomplishments, only the things he hasn’t done until he looks back into the past and then forward at how the future may be.
While both Keats and Longfellow often reflect on their own unfulfilled dreams and impending deaths, the poems however contrast on their own dispositions towards death and the future. Here, Keats expresses a fear of not having enough time to accomplish all that he believes he is capable of doing, but as he recognizes the enormity of the world and his own limitations of life, he realizes that his own mortal goals are meaningless in the long run of things. On the other hand, Longfellow speaks of a regret towards his inaction for allowing time to slip away from him in his past and is at a crossroads for the ominous future that looms ahead of him. Through the use of light and dark imagery, and personification, Keats and Longfellow similarly yet also differently, reflect on their own ideas for death and the futures that lay ahead of them.
One characteristic embedded in the minds of almost all humans is that of succumbing in pursuit of one’s aspirations, especially with the approach of death. The fear and enigmatic mystery of death at the brink of this shortcoming may cause one who is near death to re-evaluate life as a wasted opportunity or a broken path of dreams because of the inability to find any type of success. The sonnets “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “When I have Fears” by John Keats examine the thought processes of two people who submit to the struggles of life in a depressed way. While communicating a very similar foundational message and mood in a different way through diction and structure, the speakers in “Mezzo Cammin” and “When I Have Fears” identify their despair through likewise differing literary elements which complement and bring out the message intended by these troubled individuals.
if you look at his poem. After the 1st half of the 3rd stanza, all the
Owen uses this stanza as a tool to build-up the story and is able to
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by
Two literary pieces, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by, Dylan Thomas and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by, Emily Dickinson are both poems that discuss the topic of death. While there are some similarities and comparisons between the two poems, when it comes to the themes, both poets writing styles are quite different from one another which makes each poem unique. Thomas and Dickinson both use identical figurative language devices and other literature symbolisms as they explain their main themes which contrasts the differences to the concept of death. These distinct variations between poems are apparent in both the form, and how the choice of words is used in the poems. Both of the authors have presented two very different ideas on death. The poems are well distinguished literature devices, they share minor similarities and differences between each other and how they present the meaning of death to a toll.
One of the cardinal emotions that govern the very way in which we live is fear. Fear is embedded in our DNA and oversees almost everything that we do. Animals, and humanity in particular, have used fear to our advantage and disadvantage ever since the stone ages. Fear has assumed an even bigger role in today’s culture, especially the idea of being scared for fun. Horror books, movies, haunted houses and theme park rides are all examples of how we love to scare ourselves. Edgar Allan Poe, one of America’s greatest authors and poets, loved to be scared as well. In particular, Mr. Poe loved to scare others. He did this in almost all of his stories, using many different techniques. Poe is also one of the very few authors whose stories have
Robert Frost was an American poet that first became known after publishing a book in England. He soon came to be one of the best-known and loved American poets ever. He often wrote of the outdoors and the three poems that I will compare are of that “outdoors” type.
There are many people who travel a distance in life to find the path they should take or to remember the path they once took. In the poem “The Path Not Taken,” by Robert Frost and the short story "I Used to Live Here Once" by Jean Rhys there are many similarities and differences. The authors’ use of describing a path helps them personify life’s journeys and self-reflection.
"Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne, "Because I could not stop for Death" and "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" by Emily Dickinson all have one theme in common: death. Typically, death is associated with negative connotations, but "Death, Be Not Proud" is a more cheerful tale of how death lost its sting. "Because I could not stop for Death" also has a similar theme because. Like the other two poems, "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" talks about an interruption of a person's death by a fly. "Death. Be Not Proud," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" are all poems revolving around the theme of death.