Seamus Heaney & Tony Curtis
On initial reading both the Follower and Strongman are simply about a
son's relationship with their father. Whilst this relationship is a
central theme of both poems, the poems also explore a range of issues
including cultural identity, guilt and social class. This essay will
attempt to analyse both poems individually and to also identify areas
of conflict and similarity between the poems.
The first two words of Follower by Seamus Heaney are "My father" which
immediately establishes the poet's emotionally involved relationship
with the subject of the poem. In contrast the poet of Strongman writes
in the third person for the majority of the poem and it is only really
in the last two lines that the poet establishes that he is addressing
the poem to the son.
Both poems create a vivid picture of physically strong fathers who
draw on their physical strength by undertaking skilled manual jobs to
support their families "My father worked with a horse-plough" and "A
carpenter who could punch nails into wood with a clench fist". Seamus
Heaney employs the use of a number of sea images in helping the reader
to visualise the immense strength and stamina of his father's body
"His shoulders globed like a full sail strung" and "Sometimes he rode
me . Dipping and rising to his plod". Similarly Tony Curtis employs
powerful visual imagery to illustrate the father in his poem as the
pivot of a roundabout with his five sons as seats/chairs swinging from
his arms as he "would stretch his arms and hang his five sons from
them, turning like a roundabout". This is a very successful simile as
it encapsulates the swinging motion of the father playing with his
children and on a deeper note the fathe...
... middle of paper ...
...man focuses on the reversed roles of the
father and son. The original role of the father as the provider and
central axis in the family has now disappeared to the extent that it
is now the son who not only cares for the father physically but also
emotionally as he reassures the father with "No trouble - he said, no
trouble, Dad". The final likes of the poem encapsulate the indignities
of sickness and old age. The use of minimalist, stark language,
without the use of unnecessary adjectives heightens the poignancy of
the last lines.
In conclusion both Follower and Strongman are brief but effective
poems that successfully portray father - son relationships. The
readers are allowed an intimate snapshot/glimpse into these
relationships. Both poems describe the permanent bonds between fathers
and sons whilst also effectively addressing how these bonds evolve.
Who is the speaker of the poem? It is not the author necessarily. What can you tell about the speaker from the poem?
The narrator speaks as a second person and to me Sylvia is the narrator in the
Though most of the poem is not dialogue, from what little speaking there is between the...
The reader from the start is aware of the point of view that the poem is being told in. The first sentence is “But if I”, which shows the narrator is in first person. By using first-person the readers are able to have the confidence that the events being told are believable because they come from a first hand character and not a third person unreliable character who could misdirect the reader. The narrator presents a theme using her imaginary lover with the excerpt “But if I were to have a lover, it would be someone who could take nothing from you.” This would be much more difficult and not remotely have the same effect if it was done in any other perspective. The reader gains trust and can connect better when the writing is in first person. Emotion is expressed with more energy and force with this perspective and is evident with the concluding sentence, “with my other body, the one that you have never asked to see.” Third-person perspective wouldn’t compare in having the same effect with that last strong sentence. As the reader, we are not sure...
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
The poem is in a third person setting ,like in a movie, narrated by the poem, and it is about a women that surrounded herself with mirrors, and one day she disappeared into the mirrors. Later when people moved in the same house they also disappeared one at a time. The second part of the poem is about a poem that eats its readers. The reader then becomes
poem because of its story line I like the way that at the start the
last, which is four lines. In the first three stanzas, the poem is told in
the end of the poem, it becomes clear that the speaker addresses him or her self, not an
Choosing the first person form in the first and fourth stanza, the poet reflects his personal experiences with the city of London. He adheres to a strict form of four stanzas with each four lines and an ABAB rhyme. The tone of the poem changes from a contemplative lyric quality in the first to a dramatic sharp finale in the last stanza. The tone in the first stanza is set by regular accents, iambic meter and long vowel sounds in the words "wander", "chartered", "flow" and "woe", producing a grave and somber mood.
... –‘. The poem is written as lyrical, exploring emptions, sensations and the human condition using the word I in the first sentence.. ‘Dickinson reminds a reader that the “I” in her poetry does not necessarily speak of the poet herself: “When I state myself, as the Representative of the Verse – it does not mean – me – but a supposed person” (Emily Dickinson Museum, 2009)’.
In the first stanza, it is established that the poem is written in the first person, when “I” is referring to the speaker, which illustrates this person’s point of view concerning the tragedy of 9/11 during a whole day of events. The speaker begins by setting a tranquil mood as the opening of a long list of last names. In line 1, he says: “Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.” He describes the night like a tropical tree gently swaying in a peaceful beach setting. He calmly observes the gentle raindrops dripping slowly down his windows until they disappear in “A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze, / And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,” (2-3). For a brief moment, he enjoys going outside to his garden at sunrise to forget the sorrow that death brings when “In the morning, I walked out barefoot / Among thousands of flowers” (11-12).
It can be concluded that the speaker is a caring and loving gentleman. The narrator of the poem is a young gentleman whom can also be perceived as Edgar Allan Poe himself. “That a maiden there lived whom you may know/ By the name of Annabel Lee” (line 3, 4). The poem is about a person loving a woman; therefore it is positively obvious and apparent that the narrator is a gentleman. There are also repetitions of the words “I” and “my” throughout the whole poem, which confirms that the narrator is in fact Edgar Allan Poe himself. “And, so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side/ Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride” (line 38, 39). The use of the words “I” and “my” supports the theory that the person narrating the poem is Edgar Allan Poe. It is also visible that the speaker is very sad and emotional about the loss of his wife. The narrator is having a difficult time getting over the death of Annabel Lee which is apparent in the last stanza. He still sleeps by her even though she is
The structure of this poem is not the traditional form of poetry, in that he begins with a first person statement then after an indentation, he elaborates on it almost lik...
when the poems reads "Oh, I kept the first for another day!" (line 13). He