Comparing Two Poems About Fear

Poems on Fear Poems by Teasdale, Graham, Nissen, Wheaton, and Hill, all share the same overall theme of fear. These poems all express the theme of fear in different ways. Some of the authors write about how they overcame fear, and others write about their current struggle with it. Fear can be put into very different perspectives based on the author's viewpoint. Depending on their past, and present ideas, they may view fear differently.

The first poem, “Fear”, by Sara Teasdale, expresses the theme of fear using personification and flashbacks. In line 2, it says, “The cold black fear is clutching me to-night.” Teasdale uses personification as a way to give fear a likeness to something alive when in reality it is just an emotion, conjured up by our own thoughts. The author also uses flashbacks, to express to the reader that fear is a long-time foe, with which she has struggled with since childhood. She also insinuates a fear of the dark, through many inferences to the “joy of light”, and “they would take the light.” “As long ago when they would take the light, And leave the little child who would have prayed, Frozen and sleepless at the thought of death.” It elaborates that as a child, she was also afraid of the

Tone plays an important role in this poem as the lines are short, to the point, and show how fear can infiltrate the mind in an instant. “My heart begins to race, The end is so near, It's right in my face.” This poem has a tone of confusion, relaying the idea of the title. Nissen uses a recurring segment in his poem to express the ‘fog’ of fear. “The fear swells up, I begin to dread, That time in my life, That my life will end,” is repeated at the beginning and the end of the poem. The author repeats himself, alluding to the fact that fear fogs the mind. “Fog of Fear” focuses more on the panic in fear, while “Fear” by Marian Wheaton discusses overcoming