Compare the ways in which the poets describe an event in Blessing & Night of the Scorpion

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Although ‘Blessing’ and ‘Night of the scorpion’ have similar themes, they both use very different techniques to portray the message. The poems vary in length and language and are different in the emotions they convey. One of the most obvious similarities these two poems have in common is the use of water. Although they both contain water in some form, they both come from different perspectives. In ‘Blessing’ Imtiaz likens water to ‘silver’ and a ‘Rush of fortune’ as though it’s a precious treasure this village has come across. However, in ‘The night of the Scorpion’ Nissim is using water; rain in this case, to create a foreboding atmosphere and a cause for the scorpion’s intrusion. Another similarity shared by the poems is the theme of a blessing. In ‘Blessing’ the poem is centered around the blessing of water. Imtiaz refers to water multiple times during the poem as something priceless. Conversely ‘Night of the Scorpion’ focuses on the effects of a blessing as towards the end of the poem, when the mother ‘Thanked God’ the scorpion spared her children. In Imtiaz’s poem the blessing is something communal and shared by the ‘congregation’. Alternatively in ‘Night of the Scorpion’ it is a gift bestowed on a mother, something only she can truly appreciate. Suffering is also common theme. Suffering links the two poems together in several ways. Both poems are set in Mumbai, a vibrant but impoverished place. Equally both poems get this point across. Nissim describes their homes as ‘Mud baked walls’ and suggests a lack of medical care. This contrast from ‘holy man’ to doctor amplifies the differences in culture from their world to ours. In ‘Blessing’ the obvious desperation for water shows their dire situation; grasping with ‘frantic hands’ for something that is merely routine in our lives. She also implies malnutrition when describing the children’s
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