English

Haley Hornbeck
Hung Pham
Composition Two
March 17, 2011
All or Nothing In Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Facing It” and Wislawa Szymborska’s “End and Beginning” the poet’s writing is based around the central subject of war. The central theme of the poems is the emotional impact that the war brings out. Both poems differ in persona, yet set the same tone of sadness through their poetic language and poetic form. Both poems address the after effects of war however “Facing It” is more personal, whereas “End and Beginning” focuses on the experience in a broader omniscient way. The persona and the tone of a poem gives the reader a better understanding of what is going on throughout the poem and helps lead to the central theme of emotional distractions after the war. These two poems “Facing It” and “End and Beginning” contrast with their differences in persona. Each of these poems is told in a different point of view. In the poem “Facing It”, the speaker is described as a black Vietnam War veteran who is fighting an internal ongoing battle in which he struggles with his race, pain of the war, and the confusion between reality and the battles within. Although the speaker addresses other characters in the poem, it is written entirely in first person narrative, and is very personal. The tone of this poem is sad and somber as the speaker is trying to hold back the emotion he is feeling, while he reads all the soldiers’ names from the wall, “I touch the name of Andrew Johnson;/ I see the booby traps white flash.” (17-18). Unlike “Facing It”, the poem “End and Beginning” is written in an omniscient, all knowing, and narrative. The speaker never directly mentions a certain person and has a third person point of view throughout the entire poem which entails that war affects not only the soldiers fighting but everyone. For example, “Somebody’s got to push/ rubble to the highway shoulder” (5-6). There are a few different tones to this poem which include critical, which is making a point about the war, blunt, straight to the point, and dreary and sad, in which the speaker only talks about the destruction and the devastation of the war. Sadness is a similarity that both of these poems have in common, making them alike in certain aspects which contribute the hurt and pain war has left on each of the speakers. Poetic form is another contributing factor to the poem’s theme as a whole. Both of the poems “Facing It” and “End and Beginning” compare to one another in the free verse rhyme scheme and the enjambment that is used throughout the entire poem. Free verse best fits these two poems because they neither have a regular rhyme nor are in standard form. The poets purpose of this could possibly be because war could go either way, you never know what is going to happen or what the outcome may be, so by making it free verse, they are putting no outcome on how the poem will impact the reader, letting their minds come up with conclusions that are not constricted as to how the poem was written. Not only are both of these poems similar with the aspect of free verse, they both display lines of enjambment in which are reoccurring throughout both poems. In the poem “Facing It” Komunyakaa states that:
I turn away- I’m inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial/ again, depending on the light/ to make a difference” (10-13).
He also uses enjambment when stating that “Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s/ wings cutting across my stair” (22-23). The use of enjambment puts his personal perspective in great vivid detail while contributing to the theme as a whole. Also, in the poem “End and Beginning” the poet Szymborska uses enjambment making these two poems alike. In her poem she uses enjambment to make the reader more interested in reading the poem as to what is going to follow, indulging more into the actual meaning of the poem which is sadness and dreariness. She says that:
After each war somebody has to clear up put things in order by itself it won’t happen” (1-4).
This is an excellent use of enjambment as to it not only makes the reader want to continue reader but it shows how people’s attention is completely switched from one war onto another, forgetting about those in the past. Poetic language is a term based off of many aspects in a poem that convey the poems theme as a whole. Both of these poems are absorbed with similes and imagery making them easier to understand and interpret the true experience from after the war. In “Facing It”, the poet uses similes to help the reader compare himself to certain objects to display the certain mood or emotion he is feeling, such as “My clouded reflection eyes me/ like a bird of prey,..” (6-7). Here he is implying that his sadness and emotions have taken over him and it is clear to anyone who is in sight of him. This bothers the poet because he does not want to seem weak to others, considering the fact that he is a Vietnam soldier. There is a great amount of imagery throughout this poem but one line sticks out tremendously and displays this visual scene that wraps up the entire tone of the poem which is somber and sadness. He states that “ Brushstrokes flash, a red birds’/ wings cutting across my stare./ The sky. A plane in the sky” (23-25). The poet is creating this visual imagery so that the reader can actually put themselves into the situation that has caused him this emotional attachment towards war and how it affects you afterwards. In the poem “End and Beginning”, the poet also uses imagery that is very descriptive and provides a tribute to the emotional theme. An excellent use of imagery is used in which the narrator states: for the care filled up with corpses
Someone might trudge through much and ashes sofa springs splintered glass and blood-soaked rugs” (9-13).
These verses create a visual explanation as to why someone, anyone could experience sadness after the war due to the images that stick within your head for many years after, probably forever.
Indeed, both of these poets have made their points clear and have set the tone of sadness and are displayed throughout their poems. The theme of sadness which is brought about through the subject of war is explained by the two poet’s describing the aftermath of war is their own way. By the use of free verse, imagery, enjambment and many other poetic devices these poems definitely have many similarities and differences that combine to form a well developed poem based around a central theme that they share.

Works Cited
Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Facing It”. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print.
McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. Literature and the Writing Process. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print.
Szymborska, Wislawa. “End and Beginning”. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print.

Cited: Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Facing It”. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print. McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. Literature and the Writing Process. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print. Szymborska, Wislawa. “End and Beginning”. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2007. 427. Print.