Essay on How Work Is a Duty Comparing Two Poems

The themes of the two poems are portrayed in very distinctive ways. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ explains in a majestic approach, that fighting in war is something every soldier should honour. The poem is

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

The use of simile in the last stanza ‘matchstick hands as pale as the violet stems they lived among’ is used to compare a frog to violet flowers, which are very delicate and easily broken. The innocence of childhood is painted through this visual technique as the narrator only sees the frogs being very delicate, but to the readers the simile also creates a vivid image of the condition of the ‘Frogs’/ the French. The use of first person helps to create a reminiscent tone about the narrator’s experiences, and further helps to stress the ideas of childhood innocence and the influence of war on children because the poem is written from a child’s perspective. The use of enjambment generates a conversational and personal tone, emphasizing to the readers the reality of the themes discussed throughout the poem. The use of symbolism of frogs as pets and also representing the French highlights the idea that adults saw ‘Frogs’ as insignificant or unworthy to speak about, whereas the children could not understand this adult thought, and they placed exemplary regard to the wellbeing of the

Peter King’s comment on Phillip Larkin’s novel is reasonable because Larkin’s main themes are about death and failure. It is possible to outline both sides of the argument and Larkin’s use of imagery and characterisation supports this.

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.

In “The Poem You Asked For” by Larry Levis, he is comparing writing a poem by comparing it to a plant, stubborn person, and toad. Larry Levis, a 20th-century writer is well known for his brevity and surprise approach in poetry. This poem magnifies the complications that authors may face while trying to write something of such importance. The speaker uses an abundant amount of figurative language to personify how writing is so difficult, and can lead to many difficulties and dead ends. The author uses figurative language to portray the theme of difficulties in the writing process such as: difficulties prewriting, writers block, and how hard it is to let go of writing as an author.

To help Year Twelve students that are studying poetry appreciate it's value, this pamphlet's aim is to discuss a classic poem and a

In the poem “William Street” Slessor explores the poverty within the streets of Kings Cross that demonstrates the everyday struggles that people within the community go through searching for employment. This is shown through, “the dips and molls with flip and shiny glaze (death at their elbows, hunger at their heels)” uses imagery and slang to depict the criminal activity due to poverty. This creates a visual representation of the pickpockets, drunks and

Toads and Toads Revisited are poems in Philip Larkin’s collection that describes both the perks and burdens of a work life. Larkin’s view of work in ‘Toads’ is seen as a heavy load whereas in ‘Toads Revisited’, it is seen as something that keeps him occupied and helps him though life. ‘Toads Revisited’ was written after Larkin became a firmly established chief librarian of the Hull Library and he had no further to go because he had already reached the top position. His attitude to work had undergone subtle changes from eight years ago to Toads Revisited. In this poem, Larkin has managed to escape from the monotony of his desk, perhaps during lunch or break. He takes a walk around the park where he observes and sees more than he expects

This is comparable to the tone in ‘At a Potato Digging’. Here we have a tone of detachment and monotony in relation to the labourers and the dehumanizing effect of their work. This is achieved through synecdoche; in stanza three the workers are referred to simply as body parts: ‘Heads bow, trunks bend, hands fumble…’ This loss of identity strips the worker of personality and emphasises their servitude.

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

In stanza one, Judith Wright utilizes personification “rivers hindered him” and “thorn branches caught at his eyes to make him blind” coupled with metaphor “the sky turned into an unlucky opal” to emphasise nature’s hindrance of the blacksmith boy, if the poem is to be deemed as a metaphorical representation of

Often at times there are many voices in one poem. These voices represent the different views that come from the same material that are portrayed by the buzz that the bee elicit in the hive. The proposal that Collins is trying to exude is that there is never one way to read a poem. The type of approach will vary with reader and who they are, but by having a radical approach it will help to enhance our understanding of what the poem means. Collins wants the reader to feel free when analyzing a poem: “I want them to waterski across the surface of the poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.” As a teacher you try to pummel depth into your students’ minds and push them into the direction of understanding. The speaker declares that the grapple to illuminating meaning and the amount of time where the reader does not understand adds to the worth of the poem. The parallel to the surface of water, where you have not attained the depth even though you know it’s there is important to how much it takes to find the true meaning of a poem. While reading this poem it have the outlook on how poetry places more of aln emphasis on us to be able to pick apart the undisclosed meaning and essentially to be able to pull apart the poem without a fixed structure. By doing it this way it is able to help the audience to build upon skills to help interpret and understand, which substantially is important throughout any source of literature. We

It is certainly true that one of the distinguishing features of poetic texts is the use of figurative or non-literal language – this essay highlights the fact that metaphors do contribute to the understanding of a poem. Ted Hughes’ poem, Sketching a Thatcher, is loaded with vivid imagery and ample metaphorical constructions which aids to validate this fact. In order to uncover the message behind this poem, one must take a closer look at the arguments, focus expressions and tenor/vehicle constructions of at least six local metaphorical constructions

extended metaphor which dominates the poem, which is Larkin utilizing a toad as an extended metaphor for work and obligation, in order to communicate his idea that individuals have a difficult time living a fulfilling life, due to one’s personal obligation, as well social expectations. Furthermore, the toad is compared to his obligations in life, as well the life of others who do not work, in order to convey the idea that individuals feel they are living an unfulfilling life, as a result of personal sense of obligation, as well social expectations. In addition, the use of figurative language helps to communicate the idea with greater vividness, being it emphasizes that the speaker is questioning if his work, is worth his time, being it takes a vast majority of it, in addition, it is just to get by. Altogether, Larkin’s utilizes an extended metaphor, comparing a toad to work and obligations, in order to bolster his idea with greater force than a prosaic description would have achieved.