A Comparison of Tukerys Observed by Seamus Heaney and View of a Pig by Ted Hughes

A Comparison of Tukerys Observed by Seamus Heaney and View of a Pig by Ted Hughes

In the two poems - 'Turkeys Observed' and 'View of a Pig', the titles

are very similar. ''View'' and ''Observed'' - to examine, and to

watch. This gives the reader the impression that the poets were very

attentive to the detail of the animals - and so made the poem more

interesting. The main comparison between the two poems is that they

are both about animals. One is about a ''Pig'' and the other about a

''Turkey''. Also they are similar because both animals are dead - this

makes us feel pity for them, though Hughes does not seem to:

''I thumped it without feeling remorse''.

The content of the poems contrast because one of them pity's the dead

animal - Heaney:

''One observes them, one expects them; Blue-breasted in their

indifferent mortuary''.

And the other disrespects it and doesn't care - Hughes:

''It was just too dead. Just so much a poundage of lard and pork.''

There is also great contrast at the beginning of the poems in the

first verse. Hughes mentions ''the pig'' in the very first line. He

does this to get straight to the point and to give the impression that

it is not worth lingering over. Whereas Heaney doesn't mention the

''turkey'' until the third verse, in the other two verses he describes

it, to give the impression that it is important and worth a

description of what had happened to it:

''The red sides of beef retain some of the smelly majesty of living''.

This mentions its colour and that it is dead, but also an aspect that

it once lived in great splendour, and he has respect for it.

Hughes also zooms in on char...

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... how the

turkey ended up:

''The proud wings snapped, the tail-fan stripped down to a shameful

rudder''.

This last sentence is harsh for something so beautiful. Also there are

a lot of 's' sounds - 'snapped', 'stripped' and 'shameful'. This makes

it sound very evil and ruthless. Heaney has made it sound like this to

show his strong feelings towards the turkey, and to make us have

sympathy for it.

In conclusion I feel that both poems are successful at making the

reader pity the dead animal, but they do it in very different and

interesting ways. The poets use effective techniques like similes, and

repetition to highlight certain points that they want to stand out and

draw our attention to. I have no particular poem that I prefer and

like better - they are both different, but both very good and

effective.