analysing poems
For this assignment I will be analysing and comparing three poems. I will examine how the poets establish mood and meaning through the main structural features and evaluating the effectiveness of the poets’ choice of language and use of imagery. My choices of poems are:
Island Man by Grace Nicholls
Digging by Seamus Heaney
The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeates
Island Man is a poem about a Caribbean man who has immigrated to London. The poem is different from the others in terms of a narrative aspect as it is a poem depicting a third person. This means that the writer is not necessary talking about her own personal experiences as opposed to the other poems. As it is not first person, Nicholls is able to suggest that the Island man’s feeling towards his adopted country, may also represent those of many other immigrants and Island man is merely a faceless character that tells a story of immigration. A short overview of poem is that the Caribbean man wakes up in London, dreaming of the beaches, blue sky and a way of life of his homeland. It is a poem that reflects a longing for something that you miss and how this can affect your feeling for what you have in replace of it. The writer creates an atmosphere of depression of this man’s everyday life as he has to “heave himself” out of bed to face “another London day”.
The similarities in terms of pathos are evident when we look at Yeates’ The Wild Swans at Coole (1917). The title of the poem is just a metaphor for something much deeper- a lost time and unrequited love which, like Island Man, carries a sombre mood. However, unlike Island man the poem is a first person narrative and is very much a reflection on a part of Yeates’ life. The poem is written in a melancholy tone that is indicative to how he is feeling towards life and love and is actually, a reflection on his feelings towards a woman called Maude Gonne and also the ageing process.
The poem Digging is comparable to The Wilde Swans at Coole
Island Man by Grace Nicholls
Digging by Seamus Heaney
The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeates
Island Man is a poem about a Caribbean man who has immigrated to London. The poem is different from the others in terms of a narrative aspect as it is a poem depicting a third person. This means that the writer is not necessary talking about her own personal experiences as opposed to the other poems. As it is not first person, Nicholls is able to suggest that the Island man’s feeling towards his adopted country, may also represent those of many other immigrants and Island man is merely a faceless character that tells a story of immigration. A short overview of poem is that the Caribbean man wakes up in London, dreaming of the beaches, blue sky and a way of life of his homeland. It is a poem that reflects a longing for something that you miss and how this can affect your feeling for what you have in replace of it. The writer creates an atmosphere of depression of this man’s everyday life as he has to “heave himself” out of bed to face “another London day”.
The similarities in terms of pathos are evident when we look at Yeates’ The Wild Swans at Coole (1917). The title of the poem is just a metaphor for something much deeper- a lost time and unrequited love which, like Island Man, carries a sombre mood. However, unlike Island man the poem is a first person narrative and is very much a reflection on a part of Yeates’ life. The poem is written in a melancholy tone that is indicative to how he is feeling towards life and love and is actually, a reflection on his feelings towards a woman called Maude Gonne and also the ageing process.
The poem Digging is comparable to The Wilde Swans at Coole