Sparrow and Rose – Critical analysis Essay Example

the rest of the poem, this stanza adopts a soliloquy-like tone as it represents the cry of the beggar. Gunn effectively emphasizes the desperate tone by repeatedly using the phrase "change Sir." By addressing his plea to 'Sir,' Sparrow demonstrates politeness and respect, which further evokes sympathy from readers.

The text suggests that if the poet were to be aggressive, the reader would feel that he deserved to be homeless, resulting in no emotional impact from the poem. Additionally, it is noted that the poet shares empathy with Sparrow's situation and subtly urges the reader to do the same. Supported by a quote, it is stated that Gunn's poetry has underlying intentions. The first stanza is described as childlike in style and written in the third person, potentially representing the poet's intelligence level and further evoking pity. The use of alliteration in "pity poor" is seen as both a rhythmic device and a way to connect the two key words, conveying the overall idea of the poem.

The poor status of Sparrow should evoke our pity. The rest of the poem consists of the beggar's speech, expressed in first person. The rhyme scheme follows an a, b, a, b pattern with full rhyme, resulting in a simple and clear structure. The poem consistently employs a negative lexical set including words like 'bruised,' 'dirty,' 'sour,' and 'stale.' This effectively demonstrates how modern 20th century poetry tackled unsightly and filthy aspects of life. Gunn employs sensory descriptions to engage the reader's senses throughout the poem, encompassing smells, tastes, and appearances.

The poem creates a vivid depiction of Sparrow's life, enhancing the reader's understanding of his situation. The beggar honestly describes

himself as "in a loose old suit bruised and dirty I may look fifty years old but I'm only thirty." This honesty serves to garner sympathy from the audience. The poem lacks punctuation, giving it a rambling effect that mimics Sparrow's speech. In the third stanza, Gunn employs vivid descriptions, particularly through the use of consonance with the repetitive harsh, sibilant 's' sound that mirrors the harshness and cruelty of Sparrow's street existence: "My feet smell bad and they ache the wine's gone sour and stale in my pores my throat is sand I shake and I live out of doors." The poet's use of metaphor, rather than a mere simile, intensifies the power and directness of describing Sparrow's throat as "sand."

The text highlights hyperbole, exemplifying intentional exaggeration to evoke greater sympathy. The fourth stanza emphasizes this by repeating the word 'leaky,' emphasizing Sparrow's unfortunate situation of seeking shelter unsuccessfully in a leaky doorway with leaky shoes due to the rain. In the fifth stanza, Sparrow naively attempts to deny his alcoholism, sounding innocent and childlike, stating "I need some change for a drink of sweet wine Sir a bottle of sherry it's the sugar in it I think will make me merry." Sparrow then proceeds to fantasize about what he could become once intoxicated. However, these aspirations are abjectly vague and pitiful, as the reader recognizes their unattainability for Sparrow.

The stanza in question in Sparrow utilizes longer words such as 'daredevil' and 'millionaire', in order to elongate the lines and convey the beggar's desire for his dreams to last. Additionally, there is a prominent presence of soft nasal sounds created by the

consonants 'm', 'n', and 'l', symbolizing the transition from harsh reality to the tranquility of dreams. The most significant aspect, in my view, is the final stanza which reads: "The bastard passed me by fuck you asshole that's what I say I hope I see you cry like Sparrow one day". Despite all the honesty and pleas, the man callously ignores the beggar, lacking any sympathy. Once again, the poet employs recurring 's' sounds as well as fricatives like 'ck' and 'c', creating a harsh and unforgiving tone.

The use of shocking expletives in the poem helps to emphasize Sparrow's anger and astonishment at the mistreatment he receives from the man. Despite being polite and harmless throughout the poem, Sparrow's swearing and shouting actually restore his dignity as a human being and elicit sympathy from the reader. Sparrow's final hope of seeing the man suffer like he has is particularly pitiful, as the reader knows it will never happen. This last stanza effectively showcases Gunn's intense emotions towards societal treatment of the homeless. It becomes evident that Sparrow becomes Gunn's voice in expressing his own anger. Now, I will turn my attention to Walter de la Mare's poem, Rose.

Walter de la Mare was a poet, novelist, composer, and editor of the 20th century. This poem concerns memories of Rose, the sister of Thomas Campion— a 16th-century poet and composer known for his focus on beauty and nature imagery in works such as "Rose cheeked Laura" and "There is a Garden in her Face." The mention of Campion in de la Mare's poem holds significance, highlighting how de la Mare differs from other 20th-century poets who were

impacted by Modernist changes in poetry.

De la Mare chose to write in a traditional and sentimental style, similar to Thomas Campion, rather than exploring innovative or experimental poetry. I believe that Campion had a significant influence on De la Mare, as evidenced by the correlation between the first three lines of his poem "Rose" and my own viewpoint. These lines state: "Three centuries now are gone, Since Thomas Campion Left me his airs, his verse, his heedful prose." De la Mare's statement about receiving these elements from Campion suggests that he felt compelled to continue in the same manner as Campion's work. The repetition of the possessive pronoun 'his' not only emphasizes ownership but also serves as a persuasive technique using the rule of three. By describing Campion's prose as 'heedful,' De la Mare indicates his belief that it deserves attention and remembrance. Lastly, the poem consists of three stanzas with six lines each.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is a, a, b, c, c, b. It mainly uses half rhyme. This scheme corresponds to the distinctive formatting on the page, particularly with the longer third and sixth lines in each stanza (the 'b' rhymes). As a result, these lines require focus on their content. Furthermore, the poem employs the repetition of 'Rose' at the end of every stanza. This technique highlights the subject and ensures that De la Mare's message stays with us.

In the second stanza, De la Mare provides more detailed descriptions and appeals to the reader's senses. He incorporates romantic, nature imagery by comparing Rose to the fragrance of a flower. However, the effectiveness of using 'Woodruff' is questionable as not everyone

may be familiar with its scent and therefore not be impacted by the description. The poet utilizes soft, nasal sounds to create a serene and peaceful tone, in stark contrast to the harsh tone found in Sparrow. The inclusion of fricative sounds in the phrase "brittle dust" gives it a desolate quality reminiscent of Gunn's poetry. Nevertheless, De la Mare disregards this harshness and proceeds with the word 'blossoming,' which contains gentle, nasal sounds.

It appears that the phrase "rarest beauties" may be referring to the beauties found in nature within the garden. However, the use of the word "meet" suggests that the author is actually referring to Campion and his sister. The final stanza of the poem "Rose" reflects on memories and has a more solemn tone compared to the rest of the poem. The choice of words like "Faded" and "changing" implies that memories fade over time, particularly those of Rose's face described as "Cheek, mouth, and childish brow". Describing her face as "childish" also suggests that Rose was young when she passed away. There seems to be a sense of hopelessness when De la Mare states, "Where, too, her phantom wanders no man knows", but hope is then revived in the last three lines: "Yet, when in undertone That eager lute pines on, Pleading of things he loved, it sings of Rose." De la Mare conveys that when one speaks softly, they can hear the longing lute. The lute, an ancient stringed instrument, is personified as being 'eager' to represent Campion's eagerness for his sister's return.

The significance of the lute is that Campion wrote both the words and music for his many songs

with lute accompaniment. De la Mare describes the lute as 'pining on' and 'pleading', which conveys the sadness and yearning that Campion felt for his lost loves. Moving on to compare the two poems, there are notable similarities and differences between them. Despite being composed by different poets and having distinct themes, "Sparrow" and "Rose" share significant commonalities. First, both poems revolve around individuals and feature their names in the title. Moreover, both Gunn and De la Mare employ sensory appeal to engage the readers, with nature comparisons being more predominant in De la Mare's work.

Both poems also conclude with a more gloomy tone in contrast to the rest of the poem. While the poems share some similarities, it is their dissimilarities that hold more significance. Despite being written around the same time, when examining their tone and treatment, one would not believe this to be true. Sparrow exemplifies 20th century poetry, a contemporary and unsentimental poem depicting the unclean and unpleasant aspects of life. Although De la Mare was a 20th century poet, his perspective on the world was completely distinct from Gunn's as he remained unaffected by and disregarded the modern changes in poetry.

Instead of writing modern poetry, he chose to write traditional poetry that emphasized sentimental values. One noticeable contrast between the two poems is the depiction of smell. In Sparrow, the narrator mentions "my feet smell bad," while De la Mare describes a "fragrant smell." Additionally, punctuation is employed in Rose, whereas it is absent in Sparrow. Moreover, the rhyme scheme of Rose is more intricate, suggesting that the memory associated with Rose is more complex compared to the mere existence

of Sparrow. Furthermore, the structure of Rose on the page showcases a greater level of complexity and technicality.

Studying and comparing these two poems has allowed me to recognize that poems from the same historical period can still be very different in style. De la Mare boldly disregarded the prevailing poetry trends of his time and instead wrote in the style he enjoyed in Campion's poetry. De la Mare's perspective on life greatly differed from Gunn's, and he would never have the desire or ability to write a poem like "Sparrow." While De la Mare's poetry can be seen as more positive and optimistic, "Sparrow" is a grittier and more realistic portrayal of societal issues. The poem "Rose" lacks any significant message; it is composed of memories that cannot truly be De la Mare's since he lived in a different era than Campion. Therefore, the poem feels falsely sentimental to me.

On the contrary, De la Mare may be empathizing with Campion's situation following the loss of his sister. While Rose exhibits a structured form and choice of words, I find Sparrow to be significantly more impactful in its message.