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The Comparison of Two Poems, ‘Follower' by Seamus Heaney and‘Imitations' by Dannie Abse Essay Example

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The Comparison of Two Poems, ‘Follower' by Seamus Heaney and‘Imitations' by Dannie Abse Essay Example
The comparison of two poems, ‘Follower' by Seamus Heaney and‘Imitations' by Dannie Abse

The Poems ‘Follower' and ‘Imitations' are very alike in some ways but different in others. They have obvious points of comparisons and yet behind both poems is an individual story. Seamus Heaney, born in 1939 into a farming family, wrote ‘Follower'. He is Britain's most admired poets and won the nobel prize for literature in 1995. Dannie Abse wrote ‘Imitations', he was born in 1923 into a Jewish family in Cardiff. They each have simple reading structures for an easier read. Both writers talk from their own point of view, from their own experiences in their lives. They talk very intimately and detailed to form determined poems. Looking at both poems, there are comparisons in each part, including the subject, themes, structure, images and language. The subject in follower is the relationship between a father and a son. In ‘Follower' Seamus Heaney is speaking as the son, who talks about his father working on a farm. This has references to his own childhood as he was brought up on a hard working farm in County Derry, Northern Ireland. The mood starts off pleasant and calm in a natural and flowing way. It then ends sad and pitiful. In the beginning of the poem he describes how he was staggering behind his father when he was a young boy. But when they both grew older, their positions change and so his father is now the follower who stumbles behind Heaney, the son. ‘But today, It is my father who keeps stumbling, Behind me, and will not go away.' And so the poem ends quite dramatically which makes the reader think more to understand what has happened in the poem. In ‘Imitations' it is the complete opposite, Danni Abse is speaking as the father and talks about his son. He reflects on the passage of time and the fact that his son is growing up. He observes his son as he grows up into a man. The whole poem has a white theme which is rather peculiar since it is set in the

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