Poems from different cultures

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Poems from different cultures Writing about poetry

The work in this document will help you to practise the essential skills you

need to use when writing about poetry in your exam, and hopefully give

you some ideas about how to tackle exam questions on poetry.

Key words and phrases

Not all exam questions will be phrased in the same way, so look carefully at the

key words to help you work out what you need to write about in your answer.

For example:

• Comment on the ideas and attitudes in...

• How do particular words and phrases bring out the poets' ideas?

• What are the effects of the poems on you and why?

• What are the poets' intentions in writing these poems and how do you

know?

• How do the poets use words to capture sensations such as sound, smell,

sight and touch?

You may be asked to comment on specific features of the poems such as:

• Imagery and symbolism

• Form and structure (including rhythm and rhyme)

Imagery: vivid ‘word pictures’ used by a writer to conjure up a mental picture of something.

Symbolism: The use of symbols – i.e. of images or things that represent something else, usually something abstract.

Form: a style of poem, with a particular pattern of rhythm, rhyme pattern or

regular line length (e.g. sonnet, couplets or ballad). Structure: The way a text is built and shaped. Chapters, plot, acts and scenes,

stanzas, narrative, verse-form, rhyme and rhythm – all these (and many more) are aspects of structure.

Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Rhyme: In poetry, the use of words which have the same or a similar sound – e.g.

‘flow’ and ‘bow’ – to form a pattern of sound.


Subject matter and form

Getting to know the poems

What? Where? When? What are the stories of the poems? Answering these

questions is a good starting point to help you make sense of the poems, and it can

usually be done fairly easily.

Form

You should try to understand the forms of the poems (the way they are

constructed). Look at the number and the length of the lines and stanzas - are they

regular? Irregular? Do the lines have a similar length, or do they look random? Are

there any very short, direct, lines?

Form: a style of poem, with a particular pattern of rhythm, rhyme pattern or regular line length (e.g. sonnet, couplets or ballad).

Stanzas: Lines of poetry that make up a verse; verses.


Language and sound

There are certain features of language that you should look out for in poetry and

write about in your exam. Try to find examples of them in the text and think about

what effect they have. Why do the poets use that particular feature? What are they

trying to convey?

• The choice of adjectives (describing words). They might be simple or

complex.

• Any images or symbols that convey particular ideas.

• The use of any techniques such as simile, metaphor or onomatopoeia.

Sound

Some people find writing about sound difficult because you need to read the poem

aloud to hear what it sounds like. Try to answer the following questions when you

are considering the sounds in poetry:

• Does the poet use rhyme or echoing sounds to bring certain words together

and reinforce the meaning?

• Does the poet use repetition to emphasise certain words?

• Does the poet use a definite rhythm throughout the poem, or in part of the

poem, which reinforces the meaning?

Images: visual representations of something; mental pictures; personas that are

presented to the world.

Symbols: images or things (usually physical, like a flag) that stand for or represent

something else – usually abstractions, like a nation. A crucifix is a symbol of

Christianity.

Simile: An explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words ‘like’ or

‘as’. ‘Sleeping like a log’ and ‘bright as a button’ are similes.

Metaphor: a description of one thing in terms of another – implicity comparing the

two, but without using ‘as’ or ‘like’. ‘Sea of troubles’ and ‘drowning in debt’ are

metaphors. Something that represents another thing.

Onomatopoeia: words that express the sound they stand for e.g. ‘crunch’, ‘pop’.


Personal response: developing a viewpoint

Ideas and attitude

When you've got to know the poem, you can begin to see what ideas and attitudes

are in it. What else is happening in the poem? What are the feelings of the poet

and/or the speaker(s)? You have to make up your mind what the poet's intentions

are in writing the poem and what they wanted to say.

Tone

Make the idea of tone simpler by thinking about it like this: if you were reading the

poem aloud, how would you do it? What kind of voice would you use? How would

you want an audience to react when they hear it? Practise thinking about tone by

reading a number of different poems. How do the poets want the audience to react

to each one?

Using quotations

To get high marks in your exam you need to be able to pick out quotations from

the poems that illustrate the points you make. The selection of a quotation is one

way the examiner will know if you really understand the poem and if you are able

to construct an argument and if you have thought about your ideas.

Make sure you develop your point by commenting about the quotation you've

selected - how it shows what you're saying.

Remember this process:

Point → Quotation → Comment

Make a point, support it with a quotation and then explain how the language used

helps to add to the line's effectiveness.

Checklist

How to read a poem

• What is it about? Get to know the subject matter of the poem.

• What form is the poem written in - and why?

• How does the poem work? Look at the language (words) the poet has used.

Think about the sound the poem makes when you read it.

• Develop your ideas about the poem. What ideas does the poem give you?

What attitude does the poet have to the subject matter? What tone does the

poem have - how would you read it aloud?


Comparing poems

In this section of the exam, you will be asked to write a short essay in

which two or more poems are compared. Generally, the questions are quite

open, so you will need to decide which poems to write about.

The areas you could be asked to write about are: description of place or

person, importance of culture, importance of language and the feelings of

the poet.

Writing a good comparative essay

All essay questions expect you to comment on the areas covered in Writing about

poetry. This means you must write about the use of language, the effect of

language and form and how it makes you feel.

Essays are like sandwiches

A good comparative essay is like a multi-layered sandwich:

• BREAD - A new point.

• FILLING A - How one of your chosen poems illustrates this point.

• FILLING B - How your other chosen poem illustrates this point.

• BREAD - Your conclusion about this point.

This is what the examiners call cross-referencing - you talk about both poems all

the way through your answer.

cross-referencing: a technique in essay writing that compares points from two or more texts to formulate part of an argument. These texts might hold similar views

or opposing ones.


Sample Questions

Here are some sample questions and the poems that best fit them.

Question 1:

Choose two poems that deal with the experience of living between two

cultures, and show how this experience is reflected in the language of the

poems.

Question 2:

Choose two poems where the title seems to you to pinpoint what the poem

is about, and show how each poet develops this idea through the poem.

Question 3:

Choose two poems where the style and language of the poem seem

particularly suited to what the poet has to say, and explain in each case

why you think this.

Question 4:

Show how the poet's sense of cultural identity is explored in two of the

poems you have studied.

Question 5:

Choose two poems that deal in some way with the experience of migration,

and show how this is explored in the imagery of the poems.

Question 6:

Choose two poems that deal with the experience of living between two

cultures, and show how this experience is reflected in the language of the

poems.

Question 7:

Choose two poems that made you think about your own sense of cultural

identity, and explain what you found interesting in the poems.

Answers are on the next pages


Sample Answers

The following are answers to the Sample Questions on the previous page.

Answer 1:

The poems that would suit this question are:

• Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan - (Moniza Alvi)

• Unrelated Incidents - (Tom Leonard)

• Half-Caste - (John Agard)

• Hurricane Hits England - (Grace Nichols)

• from Search For My Tongue - (Sujata Bhatt)

• Nothing's Changed - (Tatamkhulu Afrika)

Answer 2:





• Blessing - (Imtiaz Dharker)

Answer 3:



• from Unrelated Incidents - (Tom Leonard)


Answer 4:









Answer 5:





Answer 6:


• Vultures - (Chinua Achebe)


• Blessing - (Imtiaz Darker)

• Night of the Scorpion - (Nissim Ezekiel)

• Two Scavengers in a Truck... - (Lawrence Ferlinghetti)


Answer 7:









What the examiner will look for

When marking your essay, the examiner will look to see whether you have

appreciated and explored the:

• descriptions

• ideas

• attitudes and tones

They will also look to see if you have explored the techniques used by the poets.

When answering an exam question, keep these four criteria in mind.

techniques: in English, we refer to literary techniques. Authors deliberately use

literary techniques to emphasise or make particular point. Examples are:

alliteration, blank verse, dramatic irony, hyperbole, imagery, metaphor,

onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, personification, repetition, simile, symbolism

criteria: a set of benchmarks, or rules, on which something or someone can be

evaluated.


Exam question

Now consider this exam question:

Question:

Write about the use and effect of description in two poems.

Night of the Scorpion and Vultures are good poems to use if you are talking

about description.

When trying to answer a question like this, it is a good idea to look at the poems in

turn and note down examples relevant to each criteria the examiner is looking for.

The following tables are an excellent example of how you might plan to tackle this

question.

Night of the Scorpion

Appreciate and

explore the descriptions

Appreciate and

explore the ideas

Appreciate and

explore the attitudes and

tones

Explore and

understand the techniques the poet

has used

- the neighbours

- the father

- the scorpion

- love

- superstition

- helplessness

- irritation

- sympathy

- metaphor

- repetition

- simile

‘Vultures’ continued on next page

Metaphor: a description of one thing in terms of another – implicity comparing the

two, but without using ‘as’ or ‘like’. ‘Sea of troubles’ and ‘drowning in debt’ are

metaphors. Something that represents another thing.

Repetition: where a phrase or word is repeated several times to emphasise or

make a particular point

Simile: An explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words ‘like’ or

‘as’. ‘Sleeping like a log’ and ‘bright as a button’ are similes.


Vultures

Appreciate and

explore the descriptions

Appreciate

and explore the ideas

Appreciate and

explore the attitudes and

tones

Explore and

understand the techniques the poet

has used

- the vultures

- the commandant

- the charnel house

- love

- violence and

evil

- hope

- horror

- ambiguity

- personification

- symbolism

- alliteration

- structure/layout

Appreciate and explore means you need to notice where devices or techniques

have been used and then suggest why. Every time you notice something about a

poem, ask yourself why you noticed it and why the poet used it, then you will start

to write good poetry essays.

Throughout the rest of this document, you will have the chance to read sample

answers and try writing part of the essay yourself. The essay has been broken

down into five sections.

Ambiguity: something that is open to more than one interpretation

Personification: to represent an idea or object as a person, by giving it the character of a person.

Symbolism: The use of symbols – i.e. of images or things that represent something else, usually something abstract.

Symbolism: the use of symbols – i.e. of images or things that represent something

else, usually something abstract.

alliteration: words strung together with repeated (often initial) consonants e.g.

Max made many men mad.


The Scorpion and The Vultures

Here is the introduction and first section of a sample answer written by a student. It

deals with the descriptions of the scorpion and the vultures. The numbers

throughout the essay relate to the examiner's comments listed on the next page.

Answer

(1) In ‘Night of the Scorpion’ and ‘Vultures’ the use of description is both vivid and

surprising. The descriptions often lead the reader to expect a certain conclusion or

tone and then the poets’ use of description changes and this changes the reader’s

anticipation of how the poems might develop; this is what makes the poems

thought-provoking and surprising.

(2) The title ‘Night of the Scorpion’ sounds like the sort of name a horror film might

be given. This is misleading because this poem is not like a horror film at all. (3)

Instead of the scorpion being the enemy, the poet's description of the scorpion’s

circumstances leads us to feel sympathy for it. (4) He has been ‘driven’ into the hut

by ‘ten hours of steady rain’. (5) The use of the word ‘driven’ suggests that this is a

last resort for the scorpion. He really does not want to be there, but he’s desperate

to be dry and quiet, so he crawls ‘beneath a sack of rice’. At this point, we do not

see the scorpion as an object of fear or horror as the title of the poems suggests.

Ezekiel’s sympathy for the scorpion is contrasted with the moment that the

scorpion stings his mother - ‘flash’ reflects the sudden and shocking moment of the

sting. (6) His tail is described as ‘diabolic’ and the neighbours call the scorpion ‘the

evil one’; (7) the repetition of ‘P’ in the alliteration ‘parting with his poison’ helps

the reader feel the sudden and dangerous nature of the sting as the P sounds quick

and harsh.

(8) Similarly, the title of the poem ‘Vultures’ leads the reader to make assumptions

about what the poem is about. In fact, the poem is not really about vultures at all,

the vultures are a (9) symbol for an (10) idea that the poet wants to explore: the

idea that love can be found in unexpected places. (11) The description of the

vultures is harsh and the imagery is of death and violence. The opening (12)

alliteration helps set a (13) tone that sounds negative - the dawn is described as

‘despondent’ and drizzly. (14) The hard sound of the D rings through these opening

lines, the vultures sit on a ‘broken bone of a dead tree’. Sunrise is ‘sunbreak’ and

its grey, there is no anticipation that this will be a happy or sunny poem and yet,

unexpectedly, the vulture inclines his ‘bashed in head’ to nestle affectionately

against his mate. (15) This one description of love is immediately followed by more

images of the repulsive and macabre as the eating habits of the birds are described

vividly and stomach turningly.

(16) Both poems use unexpected changes of mood to engage the reader with the

ideas of the poems. We start off feeling sympathy for the scorpion, but we are left

thinking perhaps this really is a diabolical creature. With the vultures, we feel that

they represent something depressing and violent and yet we are surprised by the

affection between the two birds.


Examiner’s comments about the answer on the previous page

1. This first paragraph introduces the idea, makes reference to the essay title

and shows appreciation of the poet’s craft.

2. A device – the name of the poem is deliberately chosen to make the reader

think about horror.

3. Recognising an attitude of the poet.

4. Quotes used to back up the points.

5. Analysis of language.

6. Quotes with analysis.

7. Analysis of language and identification of a technique.

8. Essay moves on to make points about the other poem on a similar point.

9. Identification of a literary device

10. Identification of the idea explored by the poem.

11. Appreciation of the imagery and identification of a literary technique.

12. Identification of a literary technique.

13. Appreciation of the tone.

14. Quotes with analysis of the effects of the words.

15. Appreciation of the idea of the poet and his techniques.

16. Paragraph that pulls together the poems showing how they are alike in the

use of effective description.


The neighbours and the charnel house

Now think about the next section of both poems - these are the description of the

neighbours in 'Night of the Scorpion' and the charnel house in 'Vultures'.

Here's an outline plan of how this section could be written.

1. An introduction to this section that follows logically on from your last

paragraph.

2. Poem A

o How are the neighbours described in 'Night of the Scorpion'?

o What attitude or tone do you detect in this description?

o What devices or vocabulary would you choose to support your point?

3. Poem B

o How can you link the neighbours with the charnel house description in

'Vultures'?

o What is this description like?

o What tone or attitudes do you detect in this stanza?

o What devices or vocabulary would you choose to support your point?

4. Draw these two sections to a conclusion.

The following is a possible completed plan.

The following essay section covers this plan. Unfortunately, the order of the four

paragraphs have been muddled up.

Try to sort them out so that they flow more logically.

Paragraph A

The descriptions of places and people in these sections of the poems are highly

descriptive and thought-provoking. In the mud hut, the help offered by the

neighbours is unwanted and the poet feels it is pointless and intrusive. The

atmosphere is busy and irritating. In the charnel house description, there is an

atmosphere of calm and ordinariness. Both these descriptions are surprising in the

‘Night of the Scorpion’ you might think that the help would be welcomed; in the

charnel house you are surprised that love is so calm and serene in such abnormal

circumstances.


Paragraph B

The mud hut is alive with activity and pressure to do something. In contrast, the

charnel house of the second stanza in ‘Vultures’ is surprisingly calm. Again a

surprising image because even the word charnel conjures up images of death and

in the context of this poem, violence. Even more surprising is the personification of

love in the charnel house tidying up. This stanza begins with one word, ‘strange’ set

alone on a line it causes the reader to pause and evaluate. It is strange, not that

love exists in a charnel house - death does not mean that we stop loving people -

but that her behaviour is so ordinary: she tidies up, chooses a corner and goes to

sleep, ‘her face turned to the wall!’. Why? There are implications here that after

death we tidy up our memories of people, perhaps make them ‘cleaner’, but in the

end, the idea of death is a hard thing to face and we try to avoid it, turn away from

it. So, ultimately, perhaps this idea is not ‘strange’ at all.

Paragraph C

This repetition of ‘more’ also helps the audience to feel that the neighbours are

relentless and irritating as they try to help and pray for the bitten mother. The lack

of sympathy from the poet can be heard in the repetition of ‘they said’. He has

disassociated himself from their behaviour, which seems to him to be superstitious

and unhelpful. In their prayers, they imply that the mother has sinned in a previous

life. The poet seems unhappy about this implication; to use ‘they said’ so many

times is to register the fact that he does not agree with them. Most of the lines in

this section begin with ‘may’, which makes what the neighbours say sound like a

prayer or incantation and the poet finds these incantations and superstitions silly

and pointless. His descriptions make the mud hut sound claustrophobic; it is full of

lanterns and candles and shadows and clicking tongues and it continues to rain. The

repetition of ‘and’ helps to build this feeling of pressure and tension. We can see

why the scorpion would want to escape the hut and we feel that the poet would like

to as well.

Paragraph D

Both poets use descriptions of places and the activities carried out in them to

develop the ideas explored in the poems.

In 'Night of the Scorpion', the description of the activity of the neighbours leads us

to feel irritated by them, even though they have arrived to help the mother; they

are described in a way that makes them seem annoying, like flies: 'The peasants

came like a swarm of flies' This simile is continued, they 'buzz' and fuss and 'click'.

This irritation is surprising because the neighbours are trying to help. They bring

equipment with them: 'More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,'

Answer: the correct order of the paragraphs is: D, C, B, A


The father and the Commandant - the plan

Question

So far, we have explored the descriptions, ideas and attitudes of the scorpion, the

vultures and the neighbours and charnel house. We now need to move on to the

description of the father in 'Night of the Scorpion' and the Commandant in

'Vultures'.

Use the plan below to write four paragraphs.

1. Introduce the subject.

2. Poem A:

o Talk about how the father is described, what he does, how he behaves

in the poem. What attitude does the poet take to the father?

3. Poem B:

o As above

4. Conclude:

o In terms of description and attitude of both the fathers and the poets,

what are the similarities and differences?

The following page contains a sample answer.


The father and the Commandant - sample answer

Compare your paragraphs to the ones we have here. Have you remembered to

write about attitude/tone, ideas, techniques and description?

Remember, your work does not have to be exactly the same in vocabulary or order

as it is the content that matters here!

Sample answer

Another point of similarity between these poems is that they both describe fathers.

At first glance, the Commandant in 'Vultures' has nothing in common with the

father in 'Night of the Scorpion', but closer inspection reveals more.

The father in 'Night of the Scorpion' is described as 'sceptic, rationalist'. The simple

sparse use of these two words reflects his nature. He is logical and thoughtful,

probably a man of few words and the poet seems to admire these qualities in his

father. But when faced with the possible death of his wife, he becomes illogical and

desperate. The following list of all the things he tries to do to help his wife is a

sharp comparison with the usual 'rationalist' approach to his life. We suspect that

the poet is not impressed at this point. The reason for his sudden change of

character is because he loves his wife. He wants to help, but does not know how.

He is helpless and children do not like to see that in their parents. We sympathise

with the poet's disappointment with his father.

The Commandant similarly loves his children, although described as an ogre; a man

who 'roasts' other human beings, he is also referred to as 'Daddy'. This childish

word reminds us of his home life as a father who wants to buy a treat for his

children on his way home from work and we understand how his children feel about

their father. We can see from the rest of the description that the poet has no

respect for this man. In fact, his description leads the reader to hate him. He buys

treats for his 'tender offspring', while he can still smell the equally tender people he

has committed to death that day.

The two fathers from these poems are alike in some ways. The descriptions of them

show that they are loved and admired, but also that they are capable of things that

are not admired. Again, the descriptions in the poems develop sudden and

contrasting elements to their personalities.


Conclusion

A strong conclusion to an essay will always leave an examiner with a positive

attitude to your work. What would you write in your conclusion that draws all the

threads together about description in the poem and most importantly your feelings

and attitudes about the poems and what they have to say?

Try writing your conclusion now. When you have finished, look on the next page to

see the completed essay in full.


Completed essay

Answer

In 'Night of the Scorpion' and 'Vultures', the use of description is both vivid and

surprising. The descriptions often lead the reader to expect a certain conclusion or

tone and then the poets' use of description changes and this changes the reader's

anticipation of how the poems might develop; this is what makes the poems

thought-provoking and surprising.

The title 'Night of the Scorpion' sounds like the sort of name a horror film might be

given. This is misleading because this poem is not like a horror film at all. Instead

of the scorpion being the enemy, the poet 's description of the scorpion's

circumstances leads us to feel sympathy for it. He has been 'driven' into the hut by

'ten hours of steady rain'. The use of the word 'driven' suggests that this is a last

resort for the scorpion. He really does not want to be there, but he's desperate to

be dry and quiet, so he crawls 'beneath a sack of rice'. At this point, we do not see

the scorpion as an object of fear or horror as the title of the poems suggests.

Ezekiel's sympathy for the scorpion is contrasted with the moment that the

scorpion stings his mother - 'flash' reflects the sudden and shocking moment of the

sting. His tail is described as 'diabolic' and the neighbours call the scorpion 'the evil

one'; the repetition of the alliteration 'parting with his poison' helps the reader feel

the sudden and dangerous nature of the sting because the P sounds quick and

harsh.

Similarly, the title of the poem 'Vultures' leads the reader to make assumptions

about what the poem is about. In fact, the poem is not really about vultures at all.

The vultures are a symbol for an idea that the poet wants to explore: the idea that

love can be found in unexpected places. The description of the vultures is harsh and

the imagery is of death and violence. The opening alliteration helps set a tone that

sounds negative - the dawn is described as 'despondent' and drizzly. The hard

sound of the D rings through these opening lines - the vultures sit on a 'broken

bone of a dead tree'. Sunrise is 'sunbreak' and it's grey. There is no anticipation

that this will be a happy or sunny poem and yet, unexpectedly, the vulture inclines

his 'bashed in head' to nestle affectionately against his mate. This one description

of love is immediately followed by more images of the repulsive and macabre as

the eating habits of the birds are described vividly and stomach turningly.

Both poems use unexpected changes of mood to engage the reader with the ideas

of the poems. We start off feeling sympathy for the scorpion, but are left thinking

perhaps this really is a diabolical creature. With the vultures, we feel that they


represent something depressing and violent and yet we are surprised by the

affection between the two birds. Both poets use description of place and the

activities being carried out in them to develop the ideas explored in the poems.

Again, these descriptions lead us to question assumptions we might have made

about the poems.

In 'Night of the Scorpion', the description of the activity of the neighbours leads us

to feel irritated by them even though they have arrived to help the mother; they

are described in a way that makes them seem annoying, like flies:

'The peasants came like a swarm of flies'

This simile is continued: they 'buzz' and fuss and 'click', this irritation is surprising

because the neighbours are trying to help. They bring equipment with them:

'More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,'

This repetition of 'more' also helps the audience to feel that the neighbours are

relentless and irritating as they try to help and pray for the bitten mother. The lack

of sympathy from the poet can be heard in the repetition of 'they said'. He has

disassociated himself from their behaviour, which seems to him to be unhelpful.

Many of the lines in this section begin with 'may', which makes what the neighbours

say sound like a prayer or incantation and the poet finds these incantations and

superstitions pointless. His descriptions make the mud hut sound claustrophobic. It

is full of lanterns and candles and shadows and clicking tongues and it continues to

rain. The repetition of 'and' helps to build this feeling of pressure and tension. We

can see why the scorpion would want to escape the hut, and we feel that the poet

would like to as well.

The mud hut is alive with activity and pressure to do something. In contrast, the

charnel house of the second stanza in 'Vultures' is surprisingly calm. Again a

surprising image because even the word 'charnel' conjures up images of death,

and, in the context of this poem, violence. Even more surprising is the

personification of love in the charnel house tidying up. This stanza begins with one

word - 'strange'. Set alone on a line, it causes the reader to pause and evaluate. It

is strange, not that love exists in a charnel house - death does not mean that we

stop loving people - but that her behaviour is so ordinary; she tidies up, chooses a

corner and goes to sleep, 'her face turned to the wall!' Why? There are implications

here that after death, we tidy up our memories of people, perhaps make them

'cleaner', but in the end, the idea of death is a hard thing to face so we try to avoid

it and turn away from it. So, ultimately, perhaps this idea is not 'strange' at all.


The descriptions of places and people in these section of the poems are highly

descriptive and thought-provoking. In the mud hut, the help offered by the

neighbours is unwanted and the poet feels it is pointless and intrusive. The

atmosphere is busy and irritating. In the charnel house description, there is an

atmosphere of calm and ordinariness. Both these descriptions are surprising. In the

'Night of the Scorpion', you might think that the help would be welcomed; in the

charnel house, you are surprised that love is so calm and serene in such abnormal

circumstances.

Another point of similarity between these poems is that they both describe fathers.

At first glance, the Commandant in 'Vultures' has nothing in common with the

father in 'Night of the Scorpion', but closer inspection reveals more.

The father in 'Night of the Scorpion' is described as 'sceptic, rationalist'. The simple

sparse use of these two words reflects his nature. He is logical and thoughtful,

probably a man of few words and the poet seems to admire these qualities in his

father. But when faced with the possible death of his wife, he becomes illogical and

desperate. The following list of all the things he tries to do to help his wife is a

sharp comparison with the usual 'rationalist' approach to his life. We suspect that

the poet is not impressed at this point. The reason for his sudden change of

character is because he loves his wife. He wants to help, but does not know how.

He is helpless and children do not like to see that in their parents. We sympathise

with the poet's disappointment with his father.

The Commandant similarly loves his children. Although described as an ogre; a

man who 'roasts' other human beings, he is also referred to as 'Daddy'. This

childish word reminds us of his home life as a father who wants to buy a treat for

his children on his way home from work and we understand how his children feel

about their father. We can see from the rest of the description that the poet has no

respect for this man. In fact, his description leads the reader to hate him. He buys

treats for his 'tender offspring' while he smells of the equally tender people he has

barbarically committed to death that day.

The two fathers from these poems are alike in some ways - the description of them

shows that they are loved and admired, but also that they are capable of things

that are not admired. Again, the descriptions in the poems develop sudden and

contrasting elements to their personalities.


Finally, both poems explore the many facets of love. 'Night of the Scorpion' looks at

the love a son has for his father and a husband for his wife, but, ultimately, the

love a mother has for her children. The final three lines of the second stanza of

'Night of the Scorpion' reveal this point. After all the fuss and worry of the

neighbours and the father, the mother finally says something. Having been silent

throughout the poem, she thanks God that she was bitten and not her children. It is

a simple and calm thanks set aside from the frantic activity of the rest of the poem

by the use of a new stanza. The conclusion of 'Vultures' is more ambiguous. The

last stanza raises many questions about love. It asks if it is a hopeful sign that a

vicious and evil man can love his children, that there is a 'tiny glow-worm' of love

and compassion in him. But it also asks if that is enough - the ogre can love his

children, the vulture can love his companion, but if love is only felt for family

members then it means that acts of cruelty and violence can be carried out against

everyone who is not in the family.

For me, the conclusion of 'Vultures' is rather negative. The whole tone of the poem

and the use of imagery is negative and depressing. I don't think the poets feel

there is much hope that the world will love everyone enough to end violence and

acts of atrocity. The message of 'Night of the Scorpion' is simpler - time heals and

love is a plain simple thing that does not announce itself, it just is. For this, this

conclusion is positive, but rather less thought-provoking than that of 'Vultures'.

The poems are explored in another document:

Poems from different cultures – the poems

Documents

Poems from different cultures