The Hungers of Life

The Hungers of Life Sometimes an environment where people are guaranteed shelter and safety isn’t what they really long for, nor is it necessarily good for them. A significant portion of humanity want to truly live life—taking risks in the process of enjoying themselves and satisfying their desires for pleasure in life, while at the same time being able to get the necessary work done. In the poems “in the inner city” by Lucille Clifton and “a song in the front yard” by Gwendolyn Brooks, both the authors illustrate this point—that human nature’s love for liveliness is greater than their desire for a safer environment that’s dull and predictable, and that keeping people in an isolated safe haven does more harm than good—through differing styles in tone and syntax. First off, the tones of the poems differ significantly. In “in the inner city”, the speaker’s tone is content and proud of his situation in life but critical of uptown. Twice he references the inner city as home, and in each case taking four lines to do so, emphasizing that the inner city is home (1-4, 11-15). He disparages uptown in the middle of the poem, saying that while thinking about uptown, images such as “silent nights,” “houses straight as dead men,” and “pastel lights” come to mind (6-8). The silent nights establish the idea of uptown being too quiet, and lacking in any vibrancy and personality. The speaker suggests here that there are never any parties or community activities as there would be in the inner city; the people in uptown don’t share a bond of camaraderie that those in the inner city would. The houses straight as dead men reflect the speaker’s opinion of uptown being devoid of any vitality, that even though there are people who live there, they lack creativity in their lives, settling for a lowly, dull way of life. The speaker criticizes uptown’s preference of a completely safe atmosphere rather than a vigorous but not as safe setting. He says that by accepting this sacrifice, the