Modern Poetry Comparison Essay

Over the past few weeks, my class and I have been studying a bank of poems, all of the same theme, they all deal with racist issues in modern life. I have chosen two of these poems to compare, these are, ‘The Negro’ and ‘Prayer of a black boy’. Throughout the coursework I shall be calling ‘Prayer of a black boy’ Poem ‘A’, and ‘The Negro’, poem ‘B’. Poem ‘A’ uses imagery contrasting white and black cultures, lots of words and expressions in the poem underlines the wonder and amazement of the Negro’s natural environment, and the barrenness and unproficness of the white man’s. I will be disusing these and pointing out the affects they have. Poem ‘B’ is in 6 clear stanzas but uses imagery of a symbolic and/or historic kind, and so I will also explain the affects this has upon the poem, and although Poem ‘A’ is written continuously, it can easily be broken into six stanzas for comparison. Also both poems are written in the first person, we know this because they say ‘I’. Due to Poem ‘B’ being in six stanzas it is very quick and easy to read and understand, so I have split Poem ‘A’ into six parts as well to make it easier to compare. Poem ‘A’ tells us that the mans roots are very black, and that he is proud to be Black and that him and his people originated from Africa, I concluded this from the line â€Å"Black as the depths of Africa†. In poem ‘B’ the man says â€Å"he is tires of this world†, he is saying a prayer, which means he is fed up of the way white people act and live and he wants out, also he says â€Å"since the cock crew he wandered†, this means he is worn out of looking for a better place of peace amongst the white people. Poem ‘A’ explains that the man in the poem has always been used as a slave and that he has been treated like a second class citizen because of his race. Also he says â€Å"Caesar told me† this means that black people have been slaves for a very long time, even when Caesar was around. But he seems to be proud of what he and his race have done to get where they are now. During the second part of Poem ‘B’, the man describes a beautiful scene of where and what he wants to be, but then he thinks about what will really happen, which is that his people are slaves and workers all day then he says they are spat out of the factory in which they work. He also dreams of going back to his own country and living freely amongst his people, but he then awakes with great disappointment to se he is still stuck in a white mans world. In the third part of Poem ‘A’ the man explains that he worked on ancient buildings as well as very modern buildings, which shows us a sense of time, of which he and his people have been treated with a lower standard from the white people, and over a long period of time. The man in Poem ‘B’ tells us that what the so called gentleman is, he doesn’t want to be, because he can see the real white people and they are not kind and generous as a real gentleman is thought to be. Also he compares his brown skin with the brown sugar bags in the street, which are from his country and makes yet again think of being at home with black people. The forth part of Poem ‘A’, tells us that he is a singer, and this shows he is proud of the situation he is currently in. We have a mention that he worked his way up from his homeland (Africa) to Georgia, where he sings ragtime for white people and they like it, and this makes him very proud to be who and what he is, a Negro. In the forth section of Poem ‘B’ the Negro explains that he really wants to be back where he knows is a lot better place, which is his country, because in this country there is nothing better than his home, Africa. In section five of Poem ‘A’, he tells us that he and his race have been victims all their lives, he tells us the horrors oh what has happened in the past to him and his race. They have been treated unfairly and with no trial they are punished. Poem ‘B’ section five, tells us that the man doesn’t want to learn the ways and religion of the white people, he wants to know his own history and practise his own religion, the religion of the black people from his home country. He asks why he should read about things he doesn’t know or understand of. The white people’s religion comes from a book, (the bible), whereas black religion is carried through time in stories and songs. The final section of Poem ‘A’ is the exact same as the first stanza, he repeats how proud he is of where how hard him and his race have worked, and that he is proud of his wonderful country, his wonderful home, Africa. The final section of Poem ‘B’ isn’t the same as it’s first, in this final part, the black man explains that white people are too sad for his kind, and that his culture are in touch with there countries natural habitat and that the white people are far too industrious. The final line tells us that the white culture needs to lighten up a bit.