These two poets also share a strong sense of place and seek to either record or celebrate the craft in which was associated with their early years. They are both considered to be Northern Irish poets with an Ulster nationalist heritage. They both present in a wide range of their poems, the tension between imagination and memory between rural and urban life, childhood experience and adult remiscence. The title of these two poems, Forge by Montague and The Forge by Heaney suggest that they are on the same subject; however, Montague’s could be interpreted as ambiguous by the reader. Forge, (interpreted as a verb and/or a noun) suggests that it is the act of completing a task or belonging to a sense of place.
Emily Dickinson explores the concept of not belonging due to a lack of connection experienced with her place in society. Dickinson’s poetry then contrasts this, by exploring her sense of belonging to her poetry and to Nature. In the poem I had been hungry all the years, the persona in the poem initially seeks a belonging with society, however she immediately rejects this belonging due to her sense of discomfort and lack of connection intuited. In the poem I died for beauty but was scarce, Dickinson explores the perception of making the deliberate decision to belong to her art and indirectly to nature. The film Pan’s labyrinth explores the sense of belonging the character Ofelia feels to a fantasy world that she has created, as a consequence of not feeling a connection to the real world.
Throughout the story there were references to us, the reader, with the narrator asking us questions like “ Would you credit?” and the use of words like “us,” “are” and “before our friend” makes us feel involved and our opinions cherished, like we’re sitting right next to the storyteller, in his world. Furthermore Standard English is not used, instead Irish slang is used, for instance: “the best part of £50,” not to mention the well-known Irish saying: “Boyo.” Mockery is also a main element of the storyteller persona. A recurring feature in this story is how the narrator mocks the main character and his career path. One way in which the narrator mocked the packaging industry was when he said, “no matter if it was a bar of soft shite- it became a best-seller.” Moreover the narrator ridicules Universities, saying that although the main character “did a degree in all kinds of things” he ended up folding shirts “across the water,” basically stating that achieving higher education is not worth it. With both an informal tone and forms of humor the storyteller changes are view to that of a villager living in the country, allowing us to relate to the story a little better than we would usually.
caked mud?” conveys to the reader the poets nervousness and apprehension with connecting with his past and cultural heritage. The last stanza explores belonging to a place and belonging to people this is shown in the last line “the wind tastes of blood.” This is a reference to human mortality, it plays on the idea of blood representing kinship and by extension belonging. The last stanza alludes to the state of the persona. The blood of one’s ancestor’s links to the poet’s homeland and the idea of returning to where you belong when you die. Ancestors and Post card both explore the concepts of belonging.
19 May 2011 Explication of Theodore Roethke’s “Root Cellar” A popular theme of a variety of art and media, life and death are often focused on individually. In the poem “Root Cellar,” Theodore Roethke creates a vivid depiction of life fighting for survival. To give a sense of the struggle life is facing, the poet uses a vocabulary that conveys a sense of unease and degradation. Perhaps drawing on his upbringing, Roethke shows a contrast of existence amidst backdrop of downtrodden cellar in the throes of decay, giving readers an insight into the intrinsic power of life’s resilient capabilities. The poem opens with heavy imagery to show the difficulty that one would expect life to have surviving in a root cellar.
Larkin`s pessimistic view of the world is so deep, that it is almost impossible to find a single positive line in his dreary poems. Pessimistic poems usually have a ray of hope in the end. This is clearly not the case when it comes to Philip Larkin. In his poem, “This be the Verse”, he starts with one of the most depressing lines I have ever read: “They fuck you up, your mum and dad. “ He generalizes his own view of bad parenting and wants to convince you that this happens with every child.
The tone in the opening lines of a work of literature set up the reader to guess what the work will be about. If the opening lines are filled with angry damnation, the reader might guess that the work will be a sermon. If the opening lines are really sad, the reader would guess the work will be about something that upsets the author. The satire “A Modest Proposal”, by Jonathan Swift, does not quite follow this rule. The opening lines present a terrible tragedy in Ireland, so the reader quickly assumes that this work would be grim or present a justifiable solution to fix the problem.
In the novel Triage written by Scott Anderson, both Ahmet Talzani and Joaquin Morales seem to embody a fatalistic view of life, one in which reasons have to be created. Triage is ultimately a novel where there is a lack of hope. After Marks incident in Kurdistan we are instantly made to feel like the worst is yet to come with the use of strong and colourful language. Hope is distinguished when the whereabouts of Colin is unknown, and throughout Marks recovery there are constantly reminders that Mark will most likely never recover. Anderson shows that war has a damning effect on war journalists as well as soldiers, and that their loved ones and families are also heavily affected.
Heaney’s poem “Requiem for the Croppies” creates a comment on the distinct splintering of Irish society that occurred as a result of the political and social rebellion in his own context. Heaney does this by drawing a parallel between the 1798 Irish uprising and the events occurring around him. Heaney wrote “Requiem for the Croppies” at the time of the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, however he chose to write about 1798 in order to highlight the similarities between the two rebellions. By highlighting the similarities between 1917 and 1798, Heaney is able to make a comment
MIGRANT HOSTEL A tone of instability and insecurity is set within the first stanza where the accumulation of the nouns “comings and goings”, “arrivals” and “sudden departures” suggests a sense of chaos and highlights the lack of stability within the poet's life. The use of enjambment of “wondering/ who would be coming next” allows the emphasis to fall heavily on “who”, illustrating the transient nature of the hostel environment and putting emphasis on the uncertainty of who is to arrive next. This constant change becomes unsettling and prevents the poet from finding a place of belonging and further hindering his self-identity, leaving him lost and confused. The physical and emotional divisions set up by different nationalities is further