Comparative Poetry Analysis
Alison Kuehn 5th hour
Introduction
"We never noticed the beauty of nature, because we were too busy trying to create it." I will be comparing two poems about the beauty and destructive side of nature; "Sleeping in the Forest" by Mary Oliver, and "Problems with Hurricanes" by Victor Hernandez Cruz. I will be comparing them on tone and word choice, figurative language, and structure and form.
Tone and Word Choice
The poets of "Sleeping in the Forest" and "Problems with Hurricanes" have a specific tone about nature and word choice. "Sleeping in the Forest" has a light, airy tone. Its very peaceful and calm. The word choice in lines 1-3 make the poem peaceful and calm. Because of the word choice, lines 1-3 have rhythm and rhyme, "I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly",which makes that part calm and relaxed. In "Problems with Hurricanes" there is a very respectful tone. In stanza two, the poet has some humor. The word choice that he uses makes the tone humorous by talking about being killed by a flying banana. The humor shows that he's making fun of dying that way. The poets use tone and word choice to set a feeling for their poems.
Figurative Language
"Sleeping in the Forest" and "Problems with Hurricanes" have lots of figurative language within them. "Sleeping in the Forest" has personification in lines 1-5 and 11-14 paints a picture in your mind of the setting. The poem also contains some similes in lines 9-11, "they floated as light as moths", and 14-15,"All night I rose and fell, as if in water". The similes help you imagine the scene and the things the poet is doing. There are metaphors in lines 5-7 and 16-18. Like the similes, the metaphors help you imagine the scene and what the poet is doing. "Problems with Hurricanes" also has figurative language. The whole poem is a metaphor which conveys the message that the little, innocent things in life can turn out to be dangerous. The poets include figurative language in their poems to convey meaning and to create an image in the readers mind.
Form and Structure
"Sleeping in the Forest" and "Problems with Hurricanes" each have a different form and structure. The poem "Sleeping in the Forest" is centered on the middle of the page. The lines are uneven in length and words. The poem consists of one, large stanza. The only part that has rhyme and rhythm is lines 1-3, "I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly,". "Problems with Hurricanes" has a different set up. There is no rhyme scheme and there is no rhythm. There are 4 stanzas, all of which are uneven. There are uneven lines and no breaks in the middle of the sentences. The form and structure of both of the poems gives them their unique characteristics.
Conclusion
Each author has their own distinct style, like using similes, metaphors, and personification. They also have their own tone and word choice, like using the rhyme and rhythm. Each poem has its own meaning. I think that the poem "Sleeping in the Forest" has a meaning of sleeping and waking. In lines 16-18, the author talks about vanishing into something better. I think that this means that she kept waking up and the vanishing meant that she was falling asleep again and dreaming. I think that the author thinks that her dreams are better than her current life. "Problems with Hurricanes" has a completely different meaning. I think that it means that the little things in life that seem innocent, like bananas and mangoes, can be very destructive and harmful. In conclusion, these two poems have different meanings, figurative language, tone and word choice, and a different structure and form.