Compare and Contrast two poems: Welsh Landscape and East Moors Essay

Welsh Landscape is written by R.S Thomas. He was a Welsh traditionalist born(p)(p) in 1913 and he died in 2000. He has strong views and lives in the ago thinking of Wales of having no present or future. The verse consists of just one stanza. The of import theme of this poem is war imagery, the scripts that suggest this be ambush, spilled blood, absurd, combat, strung, sped arrows, cries, fields, corners and carcass.He discovers Wales to contribute spilled blood which describes past battles. He goes on to describe how the immaculate rivers are dyed they cant be perfect. Even water is effected by past occurrences, blood is becoming part of nature. Nature has been corrupted by battles. at that places no control over the sky, Thomas uses the word wild to describe it. Next he uses alliteration, sibilance strife, strung, sped its related with the past, as its in past tense. Strife describes the struggles theyve had, strung indicates on that point was trouble. Vibrant makes y ou think of a bright, alive and almost artistic place, but then he brings in the strong opinion of you cannot live in the present.Gillian Clarke, a feminist born in Cardiff in 1937, writes East Moors. She believes boredom is a major problem in Wales once the communitys biggest employer closes down. It consists of 6 stanzas. Demolition is the main theme. This poem looks at change in the community, the sort of change some might regard as a progress, but which the poem suggests can undermine communities, various(prenominal) identity and purpose. Steelworks meant more to manpower than anything in their life as it was their life, they were there all the time, it was the main topic of conversation and it was the income to support their families, without it they had nothing.The first draw and quarter in this poem make you think a seasonal change will follow these events, the arrival of spring is to come with the arrival of May. Its a device used to suggest a possible end to bitter times but this is undermined in the final stanza when the phrases icy and rain is blowing is used to describe the first solar day in May.The flash of sea is a metaphor, to tell us there isnt much sea. There aresome metaphors in Welsh Landscape too thick ambush of shadows is a metaphor for past memories haunting you. The fourth line in East Moors describes blue islands the word blue has a double meaning the colour and also the emotion of sadness. In both(prenominal) poems there are examples of sibilance, in Welsh Landscape it is sped, strung, strife and in East moors it is steel pointory used to smoke. This also tells us that the place used to be filled with industry.The first line of the second stanza shows distinctive lives of people living in the valleys in the 1930s, people were born in houses instead of hospitals, then they lived in them throughout their lives. The second and third lines describe how the how the steelworks often gave off flashes of light sudden glow in the midd le of the night, so the neighbours were accustomed to it. Then it says a dark sound, its a bloodline to the earlier mention of glow, and it could mean, low or spooky. Throughout the second stanza, theres a lot of cases of sibilance -sudden, sky, sound, fragrance and sulphur.Theres also more sibilance in Welsh Landscape, Thomas talks about soft consonants being strange to the ear. sluttish is a positive word. The words hold back a strong connection to the welsh language as he chose to learn it in adulthood he finds it important to his heritage.In East Moors, the third stanza begins with alliteration Roath, Rumney they are two areas of Cardiff, its showing typical sense of valley life. Now, clothes are hung in yards and theres no pollution to dirty these garments. Then comes more stereotypical life of men and women men being lethargic and women lining up jobs for their lazy, excess husbands. We know theyre jobless, as the steelworks have been closed down, the explanation comes in the last line of the third stanza. The fourth stanza states how bitter these jobless men are, their misery matches the atmosphere as the skyline is being destroyed as the building is torn down. The steelworks made a pattern like hieroglyphics.The day its torn down families gather round like its a day out, it remindsus of tragedies like September 11th. The simile at the end of the fourth stanza shows how important it is to them, like losing someone close to them a death, there will now be an appalling void where the steelworks used to be. These are such negative words it emphasises the meaning of the loss of the steelworks.So in the final stanza, it describes a new beginning, the start of a month, it should be positive as summer is nearing, but as the steelworks are gone, May is a miserable month. There are, however, some positive words quieter cleaner but it goes on to say poorer from today which means the workers have lost their jobs. The fourth line is a repetition from the fir st stanza. It indicates that although the town might be poor the cherries are still growing. The last line shows it doesnt take long to forget about the steelworks and life goes on. The sky is blind though and theres no future for the village.Back to Welsh Landscape the next line in question, hushed at the fields corners, this means, theyre being forced to be quiet, as if by barriers. Then again, Thomas brings up his pessimistic views of Wales, hes determined to create an atmosphere so people think of past times. He even goes as far as to say things are brittle and would break apart. Its so bad it cant even have a real ghost, it has pretending sham ghosts. All Wales has are mines so if they are going what else is here? Powerless people unable to perform sexually? Or people sick with inbreeding? That is a harsh opinion, which shows Thomas thinks people never come out of Wales. The last line of the poem is a slack up personification, meaning the song can worry and die. The song proba bly being the Welsh National Anthem.Welsh Landscape has no rhythmic syllable pattern, which implies Wales isnt mental synthesisd. There isnt a rhyme pattern either. In East Moors however, there isnt a strong syllable pattern, there is however a rhythm and structure to the poem, it relates to the routine of the day. In both poems there are many cases of enjambment, this is mainly caused by the non-structured theres a lot of punctuation in both poems, I dont however, believe that it helps with the meaning of the poem. The mood at the start ofWelsh Landscape is the same as the end, dull, violent and derogatory towards Wales. In East Moors the mood at the start makes you think therell be a seasonal changer, that the bitter times have ended, but in fact the times continue to be just as terrible as before.