‘Out of the blue’ is a monologue interpreted by one of the victims inside the twin towers during the tragedy of 9/11. The emotion desperation sums up all feelings that travelled through peoples minds, everyone wanted to escape and get close to their loved ones. The title suits the poem, because thousands of employers working for famous international companies were carrying out their normal routing when out of no where a plane penetrated the building tearing peoples hearts. The poem is narrated as the events progress from bad to worse. Out of the Blue could be considered an elegy as it has a slow, sorrowful tone creating an intense and sad atmosphere. The different techniques and the structure used gives shape to the poem. One of these techniques is writing in first and second person, during the poem there’s a frequent change between first and second person. At times the narrator used the personal pronoun ‘me and I’ and then switches to using ‘you’ grabbing the readers attention by making them feel guilty by not doing anything about the situation. Using this technique the poem becomes more powerful and focuses on the damage of terrorism. In addition the use of second person pulls the reader into present feelings and actions of the narrator. Finally first and second person increases desperation within the poem, because we as the reader experience the devastating moments of 9/11.
Month: May 2015
comparing poems
The poems ‘Belfast Confetti’ and ‘At The Border 1979’ both talk about how conflict and war can affect feelings about a place. Choman Hardi and Ciaran Carson both demonstrate that war and conflict affect individuals, loved ones and a nation. This is displayed through the different type of language features in the poems.
At the border, 1979 talks about a civil war that has just finished in their home country and allows them to return and so does Belfast Confetti but about a civil war and political war which is currently happening in the poem. Carson is presently experiencing conflict and viewing terrorist attacks directly in front of him such as bombings and explosions whereas Hardi explains his feelings after the war and the returning home, an aftermath. In the Confetti there has been disagreements between families which lead them to fight against each other, because at that time in Ireland had two differing political ideologies and as a result physical conflict was prone. Also at the Confetti is relating the event to individuals specifically him, because he is trying to escape but every alleyway he enters he is blocked by ‘stops and colons’, whilst At the Border there is a holistic view which includes the nations people and how they are emotionally feeling. We know that Hardi is returning home, because a man “bends down and kissed his muddy homeland” this just shows how important home is to people now a days. This can be due to people having difficulties in other countries, wanting them to return.
Both poems are written in first person however the speaker and experiences of conflict are different. In the poem Confetti the poet is a victim as he surrounded by the conflict and he is an innocent character but At the border 1979 the poet is an observer as the war has ended and she is returning home as she was exiled from her country and she is also observing the happiness of the civilians around her. As I previously mentioned At the border 1979 is a poem after the war and they find sanctuary in contrast Confetti is the poem which is in the present and it’s destroying Ireland. A fact that both poems have in common is that the poems are in the past, At the border 1979 is the conflict that happened between Kurdistan and Iraq and Belfast Confetti is the war between Republic and Northern Ireland. Similarly both wars ended in a catastrophic way with thousands of deaths.
At the border 1979 the poet defines the importance that the homeland can have to people and there is nothing sweeter than returning home instead of being refugees and having plenty of difficulties, conversely Belfast Confetti demonstrates at that time in Ireland people were not allowed to have their own views and opinions on how they believed they should live their lives. All of the Irish civilians had to be restricted to one ideology. Equally both poem express the strain, the chaos and the endurance that the innocent civilians had to come across, which was totally unfair. At the border 1979 there was a huge sense of relief, because arriving home is a great feeling especially after a war whereas Belfast Confetti there’s a built of tension, its very chaotic and the poet is terrified as he is in the middle of the conflict.
In conclusion both poems are similar as they both refer to wars and conflicts but the period of the war is different one is a the end and the other is during the conflict. Both poems have different messages and use different language to get their point across.
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