Comparison between the “Incident” and the “Travel” Poems Essay Example for Free

Comparison between the Incident and the displace Poems EssayComparison between the Incident and the Travel PoemsIntroductionFirst verse formIncident turn back looking straight at me.Now I was cardinal and very small,And he was no whit bigger,And so I smiled, but he poked prohibited(a)His tongue, and called me, Nigger.I saw the whole of BaltimoreFrom May until DecemberOf all the things that happened thereThats all that I remember.Second poemTravelBy Edna St. Vincent MillayThe rail line track is miles away,And the day is loud with voices speaking,Yet there isnt a train goes by all dayBut I hear its whistle shrieking. on the whole night there isnt a train goes by,Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,But I see its cinders red on the sky,And hear its locomotive steaming.My heart is warm with friends I make,And better friends Ill not be knowingYet there isnt a train I wouldnt take,No division where its going.Comparison between the deuce poems above The beginning(a ) font to compare between the two poems above is the themes portrayed. In the first poem, Incident highlights the theme of racial discrimination. The loudspeaker in the poem tells the audience how he was travelling in a bus when he encountered an event that he says that he is unlikely to forget. He says that while in the bus travelling to Baltimore, his happiness suddenly turned to sadness when a young son of his age called him a Niger. In stanza three, the speaker says, but he poked place His tongue, and called me, Niger. Niger is a word that is used to sarcastically insult Afri squeeze out-Americans living in America. The speaker felt so sad and in the next eight months (from May to December) that he spent in Baltimore he cannot remember anything else but that annoying incident. In stanza four of the poem, the speaker confirms that he can never forget. He says, .From May to December of all the things that happened there, Thats all that I remember. On the other hand, the theme i n the sec poem, Travel, is that of discontentment. The speaker describes her feelings to the audience. She says in stanza threeMy heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends Ill not be knowing. In these lines, the speaker says that although she is presently quick-witted with the friends that she has she thinks the friends that she has not met already may be better. This is a clear indication of dissatisfaction that the speaker expresses. It is also important to analyze the choice of the titles of the poems that the authors use and find out how relevant they are to the poem. The title that the author chooses carries too much weight in the understanding of the poem. The theme of the poem is highlighted in the title, albeit hidden and, therefore, identified after reading the whole poem. In the first poem, the title is Incident. The literal meaning of this word is a misadventure that is unusual. In this poem, the speaker describes an unusual happening that apparently ha ppened to him. In his context, the speaker experienced an incident. Therefore, the title is very relevant to the poem. In the secondment poem, the title is Travel. The word travel means causal agency from one location to another. In the poem, the speaker is discontented by her present state. She longs to move to the next level. She uses train metaphorically to indicate that she wants to cease the next fortune available and move to the next level. Therefore, the title captures this desire of the speaker so vividly and, therefore, in the context of the theme in this poem, it is very relevant. The other aspect that needs comparison in these two poems is the choice of the language. The language that the author uses is aimed at making the poem interesting to the reader while bringing out the desired message. In the first poem, Incident, the author chooses to use the first person I in the poem. He allows the speaker to tell the audience well-nigh this incident in a direct manner. The r eader, who is the audience, is able to connect with the speaker when the speaker talks about himself. For instance, in stanza two, the speaker says, Now I was eight and very young,... The speaker informs the audience that, at the time of the incident that happened to him, he was eight years old and was very small. Incidentally, the second poem also uses the first person I. The speaker tells the audience about her feelings. This style improves the connection between the audience and the speaker because the poem is about the speaker. In addition, the two poems pay used contracted language in several instances. In the first poem, there is the use of Thats instead of That is in the last stanza line four. This makes the poem informal and makes the readers connect with the speaker easily, especially in the modern times. In the second poem, instances of contractions are numerous. For example, there is the use of Ill instead of I leave alone, isnt instead of is not and its instead of it i s in the last stanza. Again, this contraction makes the poem informal. In the modern times, the poem becomes understandable. The choice of contractions is deliberate. The contractions make the mo of syllables in the lines where they are equal to the rest of the lines. Another aspect of the poems that is worth comparison is the use of the rhyme technique in the poems. Both poems have a unshakable rhyme pattern that serve to make them more interesting to read. The rhyme pattern in the first poem is ABCB. To illustrate this rhyming pattern, it is incumbent to pick the last words in one stanza. In this case, the last stanza has last words as Baltimore, December, there and remember. In the case of the second poem, the rhyme pattern is ABAB. The last stanza has the last words as make, knowing, ..take and .knowing. The words illustrate the regular rhyme pattern. The same patterns are repeated throughout the poems. The regular rhyme pattern help make the poem rhythmical and lyrical. It i s important to compare the pique in each, and the tone used in either poem. In the first poem, the mood is jovial initially as depicted in the first and the second stanza. The speaker expresses his joy when he smiles at the stranger boy. However, the mood changes to sadness after the speaker is insulted by the boy when he calls him Nigger. As the mood changes, so does the tone. It starts as joyfully to a somber one. In the second poem, the tone is optimistic. The speaker is optimistic and hopeful of a better future. However, there is some tinge of negativity in the tone in the first two stanzas. This negative tone expresses speakers dissatisfaction about her current status. The first poem uses imagery when the speaker tells the audience how he saw a boy staring straight at him. He smiled at him. The reader can vividly see the mental image of the speaker smiling at the stranger. In the second poem, the author employs metaphor by using a train to signify different paths in life. The speaker says that ..Yet there isnt a train I wouldnt take, No matter where its going in the last stanza. It means that the speaker is willing to take any path in life although there is no opportunity that is presenting itself. In addition, the second poem has employed personification in the first stanza when the speaker implies that the Train whistling and shrieking. The two poems have so much in common. The similarities emanate from the choice of the language and the styles employed. Therefore, it is clear that poets have one thing in common as far as their paper skills are concerned. They have a rich background of poetry techniques. They always employ them appropriately to suit the message intended to be delivered.ReferencesSt, John R. A. Explorations in Literature. Greenville, S.C BJU Press,2013. 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