The Skunk and All Ledgendary Obstacles
Compare and contrast the methods which the two poets use to explore the theme of love in two poems you have studied.
The two poets I have been studying are Seamus Heaney and John Montague, who are both internationally known Irish poets. Many of there poems make references to love and the women in there lives, but the two poems that I feel are more related to love are “All Legendary Obstacles” by John Montague and “The Skunk” by Seamus Heaney. If you were to judge these poems on the titles, you wouldn’t not think that they are poems about love. Neither of them link directly with the theme of love. It is quite strange that Seamus Heaney named such a sensual poem about his wife “The Skunk”. John Montage title choice is also unrelated to the poem but it is more relevant to his poem than “The Skunk” was to Heaneys.John Montague names the poem “All Legendary obstacles, He shows the relevance of the title by lists the things that lay between him and his other half in the poem like the “ruck of mountains” and “the long imaginary plains”. Also the word Legendary relates to the poem , legendary means something mythical or imaginary .In the poem we are not sure wither the poem is fact or fiction. ‘The Skunk” is made up 6 stanzas of four lines. The poem is a tribute to his wife - how living away from home has caused him to miss his married life. Exiled from his wife, Heaney is recalls the skunk which reminds him of his wife. There are two settings in this poem. The first five stanzas are based on memories of California nights, and the last stanza is a recent memory of waiting in bed for his wife as she changed into her nightdress. Seamus Heaney uses enjambment in Stanzas three and four,
“……………….…broaching the word ‘wife’
Like a stored cask, as if it’s a slender vowel”
This is to prolong the memory of his wife Marie. However in All Legendary Obstacles” we are unsure if the relationship that Montague depicts is real or not. The poem tells a story of
The two poets I have been studying are Seamus Heaney and John Montague, who are both internationally known Irish poets. Many of there poems make references to love and the women in there lives, but the two poems that I feel are more related to love are “All Legendary Obstacles” by John Montague and “The Skunk” by Seamus Heaney. If you were to judge these poems on the titles, you wouldn’t not think that they are poems about love. Neither of them link directly with the theme of love. It is quite strange that Seamus Heaney named such a sensual poem about his wife “The Skunk”. John Montage title choice is also unrelated to the poem but it is more relevant to his poem than “The Skunk” was to Heaneys.John Montague names the poem “All Legendary obstacles, He shows the relevance of the title by lists the things that lay between him and his other half in the poem like the “ruck of mountains” and “the long imaginary plains”. Also the word Legendary relates to the poem , legendary means something mythical or imaginary .In the poem we are not sure wither the poem is fact or fiction. ‘The Skunk” is made up 6 stanzas of four lines. The poem is a tribute to his wife - how living away from home has caused him to miss his married life. Exiled from his wife, Heaney is recalls the skunk which reminds him of his wife. There are two settings in this poem. The first five stanzas are based on memories of California nights, and the last stanza is a recent memory of waiting in bed for his wife as she changed into her nightdress. Seamus Heaney uses enjambment in Stanzas three and four,
“……………….…broaching the word ‘wife’
Like a stored cask, as if it’s a slender vowel”
This is to prolong the memory of his wife Marie. However in All Legendary Obstacles” we are unsure if the relationship that Montague depicts is real or not. The poem tells a story of