Comparing Blessing by imtiaz Dharke and Island Man by Grace Nichols

“Steam rising from ovens and showers like mist across a swampland” has a double meaning, steam rises from ovens and showers, but also in summer, as it rains on a hot highway, steam rises. It is comparing the lives of the people living in these houses to the disorder of a swampland by using the simile “like mist across a swampland”. It may also be suggesting that as cities expand, more land is being stolen from nature. The last line of this stanza “The cricket sound of voices and cutlery” is appealing to the reader’s sense of sound, indicating that the people on the highway can hear the noise of the people in the houses. It is likening the noises of the people to noises made in nature by crickets. In the next stanza Foulcher has written, “Only the children remain outside”, which informs the reader of what it is now like, with all of the adults gone inside. He describes the children as, “bruised with dirt and school”, this gives the indication they are both covered in patches of dirt, and bruised, which are similar colours. Also informs that they are relaxing by play after a hard day at school.

Steven Herrick’s verse novel “By the River” is very successful in conveying the significant ideas about human nature. He uses key themes such as grief, environmental influence and coming of age to explore these ideas. To convey the themes Herrick uses multiple techniques such as imagery, repetition, personification and positive and negative influence throughout his text.

The appreciation of nature is illustrated through imagery ‘and now the country bursts open on the sea-across a calico beach unfurling’. The use of personification in the phrase ‘and the water sways’ is symbolic for life and nature, giving that water has human qualities. In contrast, ‘silver basin’ is a representation of a material creation and blends in with natural world. The poem is dominated by light and pure images of ‘sunlight rotating’ which emphasizes the emotional concept of this journey. The use of first person ‘I see from where I’m bent one of those bright crockery days that belong to so much I remember’ shapes the diverse range of imagery and mood within the poem. The poet appears to be emotional about his past considering his thoughts are stimulated by different landscapes through physical journey.

Prompt: Read the following two poems very carefully, noting that the second includes an allusion to the first. Then write a well-organized essay in which you discuss their similarities and differences. In your essay, be sure to consider both theme and style.

-Essay: 1300- 1500 words. ‘A sense of belonging is never permanent.’ Discuss in relation to TWO poems and TWO pieces of related texts.

In the two poems "I coming back" and "sugar cane" have quite a lot of

To start with, the theme of the poem is that water is a necessity to life and is a precious gift. This gift is known as a “Blessing”. To begin with, there is a lack of water in which the poem takes place. Imtiaz starts the poem off strong stating right away how “The skin cracks like a pod” (1). Human skin becomes dry and cracked when it is not moisturized. A pod is useless when it is dries up and becomes fragile because of the deficiency of water. The pod links to human skin because water keeps the skin hydrated and helps the body function. In addition, the villagers in the poem value water. When the municipal pipes explode, “silver crashes to the ground” (9). To the villagers, the water shines like silver. The villagers worship the

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

When this writing assignment was given to me, I sat and pondered about the three poems by T.S. Elliot, “Preludes” Journey of the Magi” and “The Hollow Men” and I wondered about which poem I connected easiest with. I observed the poem, “Preludes” when I read the lines, “And newspapers from vacant lots…at the corner of the street…a lonely cab-horse steams and stamps” (Elliot, Preludes, page 1156 lines 8-11) in which I realized they were in a bustling city. I thought to myself, since living in a small town all my life, that in the end I would not be able to easily connect with this piece of poetry. Then in flipping a couple of pages and finding the poem, “The Hollow Men” and after reading this poem and have Mr. McGee exegeses this piece of poetry to our class, I found to be a very empty and depressing pessimistic poem . Which most of my life, I have had the privilege to look on the positive side of things and live a very joy filled life; which left me with the last poem, “Journey of the Magi”. After reading this poem, out of the three, this was the poem I had the strongest connection to and could relate to the best. T.S. Elliot’s poem entitled, “Journey of the Magi” was the best poem I could relate to due to the fact that it was a story I’ve known since my childhood, it has religious meaning and I can closely relate to the aspect of traveling and going on long journeys.

Poetry that by itself, caries quality and literary weight worthy of its own appraisal. Poetry, appears quite often in the gifts ancient civilizations leave for us to unearth and is wholly important to aiding the historian in understanding who exactly these people were. Poetry helps us answer the questions of such civilizations in understanding how these people interpreted the world around them, what was their system of values, why they believed what they did. It helps the contemporary reader identify persons of the past and contrast such persons with

Melissa Hamilton, a journalist for the Australian newspaper recently wrote an article tilted This (Transplanted) Life, which is a physical, inner and spiritual journey. It is a recount of her journey home, it’s written in first person to personalize her journey and evoke mood and tone with her audience. The composer uses juxtaposition to compare the city to her country home, “When we arrive I stumble with soft city feet over the gidgee stones” and to compare the people of the city and country “the quite is loud enough to keep them up at night.” Through her thorough description of the country surroundings and the lifestyle of the people that live there, she takes us on a spiritual journey of her hometown. The composer also uses creative language such as exaggeration, repetition, alliteration, personification and a metaphor to establish her love and knowledge of

Plato once said: “At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet». Through poetry, one can express feelings in a way no other medium allows: there are no expectations for the poet to build a climax or depict family drama, creating advanced characters, surprising endings or writing chapter after chapter (but, of course, they can if they want to). Poems are simple, but advanced at the same time - just like feelings are. Therefore, a poem is the perfect medium to channel out one’s effusion. In this text, I will take a closer look at the two poems ‘The Apple Orchard’ and ‘A Very Short Song’ and through my analysis of them discuss some possible thoughts and emotions the poets are sharing with us.

Kumin describes nature as alive and noisy at night and more calm and peaceful during the day. One of the lines that shows this is, “Wide-lipped, noisy as ducks, drunk- on the boozy black, gloating chink-chunk”, the author uses onomatopoeia to create a vivid atmosphere of sounds. In this poem, unlike the other, humans and nature have a balanced relationship where they live in harmony together. They live in peace with no overpowering side that wants to control the other. Maxine Kumin uses the devices like onomatopoeia and imagery to display a sense of unison between the humans and nature, showing how the power of literary devices can create any type of relationship depending on how the author applies

West wonder at how much we all take for granted, and how too often we

Water is described as being sacred and is referred to as a 'sudden rush of fortune' when the pipe bursts, showering the residents with it's contents. The poem is also related to religion, with references to 'a kindly god' and the 'blessing' that it brings, and it is also based on poverty, community, and celebration. The poem opens with a strong statement in the first line. ' The skin cracks like a pod'.