Comparing Blessing by imtiaz Dharke and Island Man by Grace Nichols

In this essay I will be comparing two poems which show connections between people and the places in which they live. The two poems I will be comparing and contrasting are “Blessing” by imtiaz Dharker and “Island Man” by Grace Nichols. Both of these poets express their feelings through these poems. Grace Nichols allocates her experiences of how people feel when separated from the environment and place they lived in for such a long period of time. On the contrary Imtiaz Dharker uses the poem “Blessing” to convey the importance of water for less fortunate people. From both of the poems I have chosen I can see that the poets have written about something they feel is important. The reason why I have chosen these two poems is because both of the poets have veteran or have understanding about what the problems out there has to offer you. The reason why they are so knowledgeable is because they are cross cultural. Mutually both poets show us the readers, the connections between people and the places in which they live meaning that it depends on where the person lives in which quality of life they will get.

The title ‘Island Man’ is ambiguous as it can be interpreted in several different ways. The word ‘island’ may simply be describing the man’s cultural identity however the word ‘island’ may also be unfolding to the reader how the man’s isolated and remote. As Britain is also an island, the title may be referring to his new cultural identity, a British citizen. The subtitle gives a summary of what the poem is about, and also of whom the poem was written for. As the poet is an immigrant from Guyana, her feelings of Britain and the Caribbean are most probably parallel to the feelings of a ‘Caribbean Island man’, helping her relate to...

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...ng both poems have in common with is the fact that at the end we are always brought back to reality. However “Blessing” uses more punctuality to help slow down and change the emotions in the poem except in “Island Man” no punctuality is used at all to change the tone but instead uses different language to slow down the pace. The tone in both poems show the connections between people and the places in which they live. In the poem “Blessing” the tone at the beginning is quite painful or miserable. This shows that were these people live is a place of struggles and a place of poverty. On the other hand in the poem “Island Man” the main character finds the Caribbean island a place of fun and relaxation because the tone is quite fast yet still in a calm voice but he finds London a tedious place because the voice of the reader would be with boredom in the second half.