In Cluster One there are four poems that could be considered to be about places and having a sense of place.
These poems are:
Island Man
Blessing
Night of the Scorpion
What Were They Like?
http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/anthology/differentcultures.htm#vultures
Using this link comment on how the two poems Night of the Scorpion and What Were They Like? are both similar to and different from the poem Island Man in the ways in which they consider the idea of people having a sense of place.
If it helps consider the phrase 'a sense of place' to mean having a feeling of belonging somehere.
Though they have different themes; "Night of the Scorpion" being superstition, "What Were They Like" being bitter cynicism against America's involvement in the 'Viet Nam' war and Island Man being a theme of ongoing disappointment in life (with the only escape being short lived paradisal dreams). They all have in common the yearning to belong; to hope, against hope, for a better future.
ReplyDeleteThey all share a feeling of wanting to belong "... his small emerald island..." a quote taken from Island Man line 10; this metaphor reefers to the fact that the character wants the island to belong to him, his longs so strongly for his dream that he may have started to believe in it, before being pulled back to reality ('emerald' Island being the actual name used for Ireland).
Juxtaposing the last quote to " I watched the flame feeding on my mother..." line 41 of 'Night of the Scorpion'; the use of 'I watched' showed that the child was powerless to act as the personified flame was literally devouring his mother, he longed to belong to the scene and to provide his mother with the help and comfort she needed. (Flames having connotations of dangers meant that a child as such wouldn't be allowed near it, so it could do nothing but watch...)
"Had they en epic poem?" line 8 of 'What Were They Like?'; this quote is ironic in the sense that a question about a poem has been raised within a poem. Though it's peculiar, it's definitely worth noticing the passion with which the query is asked, an adjective such as 'epic' is generally used to describe something vast importance and grand significance. This shows that the poet wished to more knowledgeable in this culture (she may have always wanted to belong to such a 'once' peaceful and soothing society).
The poem 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'What Were They Like?' are similar to the poem 'Island Man' as they consider having 'a sense of place'; 'What Were They Like?' captures this by asking an incredible amount of questions about the culture of the Vietnamese people,(Did they use bone and ivory, jade and silver, for ornament?) this lack of knowledge alludes to the Vietnamese being 'displaced' from history however also takes into consideration whether the Americans even had a place in 'Nam'; in 'Night of the Scorpion', which is a narrative poem, we see that the character constantly gives us an insight into what is happening, always from the 'outside', making clear his place is away from all the holy men and the peasants; the boy's 'sense of place' is as an observer. The poem 'Island Man' considers the character's sense of place as he always dreams about the island; his dreams leave his sense of place unknown; we are given two scenarios, the island situation, were he describes the place as though he already 'knows' it; "of his small emerald island' alludes to this, though when juxtaposed to the second image of the urban London, the character thinks 'Another London day' which gives the effect of already understanding London.
ReplyDeleteThe poems differ however, in the themes that lead them to consider this 'sense of place'; 'What Were They Like?' has deep political themes, considering who should be involving themselves in wars, 'Night of the Scorpion' focuses on religion and belief, 'Island Man' considers a personal conflict about which culture and which society we believe ourselves to belong to.
All 3 poems, Night of the Scorpion, What Were They Like? and Island Man all contain the theme 'sense of place' in similar ways.
ReplyDeleteOne way, in which the poems are similar, is the way the narrators reminisce and imagine what their homes were like. in Night of the Scorpion, he is remembering the surroundings and the events which took place on that night. In Island Man, his island is largely based around his Caribbean home, showing his longing and love for his homeland. In What Were They Like? he is trying to imagine what it was like in Vietnam during the war back in the 1960s.
Another way this poem could be similar is that they are in places they didn't want to be in. What Were They Like? is a protest poem about the USA's involvement in the War in Vietnam, destroying the country as it has lots of past tense terminology in each stanza. This could be her way of reporting the outcome of the war. In Island Man, the only reason that he goes to his "emerald island" is because he doesn't like being away from home, but he knows that he has to return back to London because he can't escape from reality. In Night of the Scorpion, I am confident that as a child, Nissim Ezekiel didn't want to be there, watching his mother in pain, after being poisoned by the scorpion. Most people don't want to see loved ones in pain, so i'm sure the same would apply here.
i didnt understand this one very well?!
ReplyDeleteI need some help to understand this.
ReplyDeleteNight of the scorpion is a poem by the poet, Nissim Ezekiel, from Bombay.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about a child (who I suspect is the poet) who witnesses his mother being bitten/stung by a scorpion, and the surrounding villagers attempts to save her life through incantation,“The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times”, praying and herbal medicine, even paraffin oil is used to try and prevent the spread of the poison.
What where they like is a poem by Denise Levertov (England),the poem is about the Vietnamese and askes question about whether they had the same beliefs and tradition before the war with America as they do now. This poem also has a theme of a ‘sense of place’.
Finally, the poem Island Man, by Grace Nichols, Guyana, is about a man (obviously not first person) who dreams of a “green emerald island” in which he inhabits, though, at the end we find out it is all just a dream and that the man actually lives in London “another London day”. Again, this poem has a theme of ‘a sense of place’.
All three poems have a theme of a sense of place though “the night of the scorpion” is not as obvious to notice this as the theme but is ever present anyway, and thought all three poems have a similar theme they are very different in their own right, e.g. the layout of the text, or the perspective of the narrator.
havent got a clue.
ReplyDeletestill didnt understand so just gunna right abit about a poem i like, hope thats ok!:)
ReplyDeletethe poem 'island man' by grace nichols is sugested to be a culture and identity poem about a man from the caribbean. the first line of the poem is a short sharp opening line 'morning' this suggests he wakes up very quickly. nichols describes the surf as being blue, this is virtually impossible and she does this to add the effect of him a living a paradise life where anything could be possible. the line 'wild seabirds' in stanza two is too state the obvious that seabirds ar never captive and arw always going to be free and wild. 'the sun surfing defiantly' suggests his home as a paradise island, and is giving the sun a personification of a charaster. nicholes uses at least two adjectival phrases one of them being 'small emerald island' this is to give the effect of his fantasy island being beautiful.
'groggily groggily' suggests thats he is very sleepy, maybe has a hangover and just strolling around abit trying to wake up. a very good use of repitition used in the poem id in stanzer two line eleven and stanza three line 12, 'come back' this is split up by the two worded line 'groggily groggily' to show that the first 'come back' was him waking up and feeling thats little bit more awake and then the secon 'come back' after the two worded line, is to show that he woke up even more and is very almost awake fully now. the other adjectival phrase in the poem is, 'grey metalic soar' this is a really unusual line as it is inpossible to have a gery metalic soar, its suggest maybe something to do with machinary. 'dull north circular roar' is the sound of the main roads, and lots of traffic, referring back to his london island now. there is a comparison in the poem to the waves used by a metaphore, 'crumpled pillow waves' the poet uses the word's 'heaves himself' to give us an image of him forcing himself to do something. the very last stanza 'another london day' takes us straight back to the relistic life, suggest he has to face another very boring, dissapointing day.
the poem is juxapostioning the fantasy, hot caribbean island to the same old, same old boring london island.
,,dont know if this is right but i tryed!!:D
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ReplyDeleteThe poems 'Night of the Scorpian' and 'What Were They Like?' inherit the atmosphere surrounding the purpose of the poem 'Island Man'. They all survey a meaning desiring of a 'sense of place', and captures the idea that this is where they belong; for best, or worst.
ReplyDeleteJuxtaposed to 'Island Man', (by Grace Nichols) the poem 'Night of the Scorpian', (by Nissim Ezekiel), are both similar in a way which is different than 'Island Man' and 'What Were Where They Like'. 'Night of the Scorpian' and 'Island Man' both capture an image of 'this is where I belong' ; while 'What Were They Like?' is more a question of 'should I belong?'
In stanza 1, lines 1 and 2 of 'Island Man', the poem uses the quotation ''Morning
And the Island Man wakes up''. This specific line demonstrates the suggestion that this is what Island Man does every day; this is his bed; this is where he belongs. This relates quite predominantly to the quotation from 'Night of the Scorpian', line 8, ''The peasants came like swarms of flies''. The word that stands out here is the word 'came'. This could illustrate the character is at home, where he belongs; and the peasants are coming towards him.
Also the poet uses the word ''wombing'' on line 5, stanza 1 of 'Island Man'. This word inpaticular has a bolstering effect on the 'sense of place' theme. 'Wombing' could suggest this is where he was first born, this is where he deserves to be and they should become inseperable.
The poem 'What Were They Like?' identifies a 'sense of place' quite differently from the other two poems. This is more of a heart - felt based poem. The poet continues to ask questions repeatedly throughout the poem within the first stanza. This is outright repetition but a closer inquest could provide us with more details. As the theme is somewhat about 'belonging', while the poet is repeatedly asking questions, you begin to question yourself and wonder, 'Do you / should you belong there?' This isn't a poem where it is based on some fantasy, this has a much more deeper meaning to it. The use of several questions makes it more of a thinking poem, and gets us feeling a tad uneased and neglected. This will provide you not with the feeling of 'belonging', but the feeling of 'not belonging'. That juxtaposes to 'Island Man' in that fashion.