Comparing Poems 'Leaps And The Names'

September 11th Most Americans know about the events of September 11th. Many poems, songs and books have been written about it. Brian Doyle talks about people jumping from the twin towers in his poem “Leap.” Billy Collins also talks about individuals in his powerful poem “The Names.” Both of these authors wrote poems about a very powerful event in history that have both similarities and differences. The two poems differ when it comes to the imagery used. In the poem “Leap” the imagery used makes you feel sick to your stomach because of the graphic detail expressed. It talks about how a man and woman jump from a window holding hands and it says that “they struck the pavement with such force that there was a pink mist in the air.” It also says that “A kindergarten boy who saw people falling in flames told his teacher that the birds were on fire.” In the poem “The Names” the imagery is a little less shocking but it still has a lot of power to it. “The Names” makes you feel sad for all the families that lost loved ones. The poem talks about people on an individual level and gives them names which make it so personal. It talks about seeing the names in the raindrops and on the mailboxes and also in store windows. The author makes you feel like it was a
In the poem “Leap” the tone is expressing sadness and also disgust. The author talks about people jumping from a building thousands of feet up to escape from the fire and they end up dying from the fall when they hit the pavement instead of waiting and seeing if they can find help and get out of the building. It also expresses disgust because if they had no other option then to jump to their death is just a disgrace and it should not have been their only way out. In the poem “The Names” the tone is a little calmer and tells the story in a way that you feel you are imaging these people and seeing them in a happy environment rather then picturing them jumping to their