Month: May 2015

Out of the blue is an elegy from the the occurrence of the 9/11 attacks where thousands died either trying to rescue stranded workers. Suicidal deaths from workers in the building and observers who were unlucky to have been in the area where the tower collapsed. The poem is a monologue spoken by a person who’s story implies for all the people who were stuck in the tower. His emotions reflect not only him but all the people who were in the building.

The poet uses the language technique of Pathos where the language he uses within the poem evoked sadness and portrayed a sense of desperation. Throughout the poem the protagonist is constantly asking the aid of the public, he talks about how severe the situation by speaking about his confusion into what to do as he’s running out of time

In this poem it is concentrated on the features  of a hawk. Throughout the poem it’s descriptive on the prowess the Hawk has on the humans and its prey, generally talking about how much of a powerful bird it is. The manner the hawk thinks of himself is uniquely presented with him seen as very vain and arrogant. What the poem is really about is not about the hawk itself. It uses the idea of putting the hawk as the subject as a metaphor for the main idea of the poem. The poem really is relating to the behaviour of mankind when they’re involved in conflict with an enemy of some sort. When someone envies another person their mentality changes as they would be thinking that they’re superior than the enemy. It sparks a reaction where the person would talk about how amazing and great they are to intimidate their enemy.

Within the poem the language used to describe the hawk is very highly profiled t

Both poems revolve around Civil War where ‘At the Border, 1979’ its events conspired by Iraq and ‘Belfast Confetti’ was between Irish natives. All wars are tragic but civil wars are very difficult for civilians as at any costs your family can turn against you and fight against you for what they believe is right for the future of the country. Contrasting to this Ireland was caught in two minds. Having gained independency from the great empire of Britain a minority still wanted to be controlled by the power of the British. These people tended to be the ones who followed the ‘Protestant’ way of Christianity with was formed by Henry VIII in rebellion to the pope. This sparked political feuds as Catholics had their freedom compromised as the British gave land to the Protestants now known as Northern Ireland. Catholics had their work cut out and were not getting pushed over once again by Britain so they sparked war for what they believe was right and fair. A once peaceful atmosphere was transformed into a place of hatred and despair as streets were active with acts of violence. Whereas in the other poem it’s a moment of relief as civilians are travelling to their native country after the war. The differences have been put aside between both the differing political ideologies and peace is found. Families can reunite together, people can restart bonding with one another without fearing the worst, the country to develop further to prevent disapprovals.

The moods of poems differ to one another with At the Border being a staged at a peaceful, joyous and composed environment as it is set after the war whereas Belfast Confetti is in a state of mayhem as the poem is happening in the middle of war. People in Iraq find sanctuary unlike the people in Belfast Confetti.

Within Belfast every stanza has punctuation in place as metaphors to present the tension of the war. The different punctuations have different meanings on different aspects on the war. ‘Blocked with stops and colons’ is meaningful to the fact that the war has enclosed and trapped civilians from fleeing anywhere. They’re trapped in the violence almost like enslaved to their own death. This suggests why Carson uses the different of punctuations as the subject of the various metaphors as it allows the reader to see how manipulative and powerful conflict is to people’s minds and how difficult it is to maintain stability mentally with all the events that occur. When we turn to ‘At the Border’ the people have freedom and peace. People able to be have mental stability, excessive thoughts running through their minds lowers dramatically as them returning to their homeland is a almost like a fresh start, where celebration can be taken place. ‘I can inhale home’ presents the relief it is to be ‘back home’ where you know the surroundings like no other. Things become exciting and life becomes a much more joyful thing and humanity is restored.