How Is Control Presented In Horse Whisp

How is control presented in Horse Whisperer and one other poem you have studied?
‘Horse Whisperer’ by Andrew Forster and ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ by Dorothy Molloy are about individuals whose lives undergo a significant change. In ‘Horse Whisperer’, readers hear from a poetic voice who used to be respected and valued in his role as a horse whisperer only for the Industrial Revolution to make his job outdated, meaning he is shunned by his community. In ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ the narrator reveals that she was an independent single woman who had lots of attention from men, and enjoyed their company and the power it gave her. Central to both of these poems is the idea of control. Both speakers, in their past lives, had a great deal of control, but because of a life-changing event they have lost this power and, it may be argued, have become controlled themselves. A similarity between both the speakers in these poems is that they are both narrating a story from a similar position – one where they are reflecting on a happier past in which they had control over their lives. In ‘Horse Whisperer’, the first two stanzas describe the protagonist’s role as an important member of his community, and readers are given the impression of a man who is highly valued by the society of which he is a part. The repetition of ‘They shouted for me…’ reveals that farmers were highly dependant on the horse whisperer to tame these important animals, even to the point where they took him for granted. The sibilance in ‘My secret was a spongy tissue…’ evokes the sound of whispering, and the detailed description of the charms used to ‘draw the tender giants to [his] hands’ suggests a highly skilled and knowledgeable person. ‘Restless’ horses are transformed by the speaker’s power, as conveyed by the simile ‘like helpless children’. Similarly, the speaker in ‘Les Grands Seigneurs’ is reflecting on a past in which she enjoyed many and varied relationships with men. The phrase ‘The best and worst of