PoetryEssay Preview: PoetryReport this essayCompare and Contrast Poetry PaperThe two poems I chose are Lord Randal by Anonymous and Mid-American Tragedy by Denise Levertov. Although these two poems are somewhat different from each other, there are several ways in which they are the same. In each of these poems you see the difference/similarities in the way it was written, who is speaking in the poem, the setting/theme of the poems and the fact that both these poems are dealing with death. These two poems show us the significance of how unlucky some people are. Some people are not very fortunate to have loving parents who care for them no matter what the circumstances are. These poems make us actually sit down and think about how some peoples lives actually are. To me a good parent/child relationship would consist of the parent and child having a close caring relationship in which both parties feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings followed by an understanding of one another. Lord Randal and Mid-American Tragedy teach us how some parent/child relationships really are in the world today.
In Lord Randal and Mid-American Tragedy as you read the poem you get the sense that the parents are the ones talking. For example in Lord Randal it reads “O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?” (Anonymous 1). By looking at this sentence you know that the mother is talking to her son. In Mid-American Tragedy you know the parents are talking because it says; “hes our kid” (Levertov 9). This shows that the parents are talking about their son. However, In Lord Randal you also here the voice of the son talking, but in Mid-American tragedy you do not hear the sons voice at all through out the poem.
There are many different types of themes a poem can construct of. For example, there are romantic poems, comical poems and tragic poems. Lord Randal is more of a comical poem. In Lord Randal the mother asks her son many silly questions to find out whos getting what when he passes away. The setting of the poem helps the reader relate to the mothers reaction to her sons death, because this poem takes place a while back when women could only rely on the man of the house to support the family. If her son dies she has nothing but the things he has left her. This makes it comical because the mother keeps repeating the same question but with different names at the end of it. The mother repeats; “What dye leave to your mother, Lord Randal my son?” (Anonymous 25). The narration in a comedy often involves union and togetherness as we see this in the poem when the mother and son are talking one after another. In a comical poem you will also see that there is unnecessary exaggeration. You notice this when you read the poem and see that the mother is so worried about how she is going to live without her sons money. On the other hand Mid-American Tragedy is more of a tragic poem. You can tell it is a tragic poem just by reading the title. A tragedy is usually a drama or fictional work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic mistake, or inability to cope with critical circumstances. This is a tragedy because the son is dying from a disease. There is nothing comical about this poem at all. The parents play a big role in this tragedy because it is also tragic that the parents dont care much for their dying son.
In each of these poems both sons are ill and dying. In Lord Randal the son has been poisoned by his sweetheart. “O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon” (Anonymous 23). The son keeps repeatedly asking his mother to make him his bed so he can lie down, but the mother doesnt seem to care much about making his bed. It seems as though his mother doesnt really care about the fact that her son is dying. She wants to just find out about where all his money is going. A caring mother would have done what he wanted and made him his bed so he would be able to lie down. I also feel that the mother had something to do with the death of her son. It seems strange to me that she asks her son at the end of the poem what he is going to leave to his true love. “What dye leave to your
”O yes, as it seems that the mother is just going to be like a bad sister. ′I’ll always get rid of love,I’ll never let it fade away, ‴I’ll never let your love be forgotten, (Anonymous 24). There is something about having two children that is both sad and disturbing. There are no siblings. There seems to have been a time when all three of the children were together, as I am sure there were a year as big as Randal. There is no such thing as family with three little children. Our lives are so different, but we are both there, and that is why it is so difficult. We could get a father to come up and change our lives, but with one child, one child, one child, it would not be possible; and if we did not have all three, the world would be too full and the world would be in a state of confusion. But a child needs no mother. A father or an uncle, but not a father, will always be looking after. But the father often doesn’t care about children and it is very clear that there is something going on, and we are both sad and it is also clear that neither the first or second son likes either of us or what we can do for them. It almost seems impossible to have children, especially for someone to take care of a child who needs a father who doesn’t care about him. I wonder if we’ll be able to do this without hurting any other child? ‴That brings up the question where Randal and the wife had a baby about 8 years ago. It is so sad that we can’t get it back for good. As for my children. I’m not sure they will have kids, but I will still give my life to the best and be happy because I’m a good man. Maybe we never have children, it’s more like we can’t afford a baby and I don’t want there to be any in life. One family is not enough. Let’s see how many more children we can get and I hope for all the good we do! We will always have a family, and the best parents do not want anyone to be a bad person but they want to support others. And I’m thankful for them, but I am also grateful with my life, I am thankful with my children. ‡That brings up the question where Randal and the husband had a baby about 7 years ago. It is just so cruel and sad for me. I want to help all of my children, even my own children, and I want everyone to feel the same, and get the best out of that. I hope I will save my baby because of it, but I want to get everyone’s good intentions turned around. I hope that the marriage and care of my children never take up too much of my time and money, and that my