From 1- 3 is group work and from 4-9 is my comparison of the poems.
1. The send off has an unusual rhyming pattern (ABAA). it makes it seem jerky and symbolises a train.
The falling leaves has a simple rhyming pattern (ABCABC DEFDEF). In the ABC section the lining is short then long then short but in the DEF section the lines are pretty much the same length. It gives emphasis to the short lines at beginning.
2. The send-off has 4 3-line stanzas and 4 2-line stanzas. The poem goes 3-line stanza, 2-line stanza etc. There is 20 lines in the poem. It gives a nice effect to the poem with the different lengths of stanzas.
The falling leaves just has one long stanza of 12 lines.
3. In the send-off the mood is reflected in the title. It makes the poem seem sad and like a farewell which is what it is. It also explains what is going on in the poem as the soldiers are being sent off.
The falling leaves title explains what the poem is about and is simple and gives a good overview of what is going on.
4. The send off has one simile: 'like wrongs hushed up' but the poem is mostly just description of the setting.
The falling leaves has quite a few similes and one is used to end the poem.
for example, 'They fell like snowflakes wiping out the noon' and 'like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.' 'They fell like snowflakes' is repeated in both of the similes and is quite effective as it gives an idea of what the falling leaves were like.
5. Enjambements are used in both poems and give emphasis to the second line. An example of an enjambement in the send-off:
'and a casual tramp
Stood staring hard.'
This enjambement emphasizes 'Stood staring hard' and makes it seem really important.
An example of an enjambement in the falling leaves is,
'But thickly, silently,
They fell'
I think this really emphasizes 'they fell'. This makes the words seem more important and like you need to read them and remember them.
6. The send-off is about men going to war and about the women watching them go. It gives the impression that not many men come back after the war which is sad.
The falling leaves is about 'leaves falling from the tree' which I think symbolizes soldiers dying in the war. I think it shows how the soldiers are quickly falling and they are compared to many other things such as snowflakes falling. The poet is saying that she saw leaves falling and then i think she was just comparing it to many other things and it was symbolizing soldiers dying.
7. There is no caesura in either poem. These give a emphasis on the line where the enjambement finishes. The enjambements in both of these poems either fill the whole line or end in a comma. Sometimes the enjambement doesn't need a caesura as the effects on both of them are ok and emphasize the words.
8. The poems are both written about the same time. The send-off is written by a man and could be reflecting his own and his own families experiences. The falling leaves is written by a woman and is more subtle at the way it is talking about the war, if it is.
9. The ending of the poems are different. The send-off ends with a sad line,
'may creep back, silent, to village wells
Up half-known roads.'
This makes a good end as it makes it sound sad and summarizes the sadness of the war and what the poem is about and all the other emotions expressed in the poem.
Whereas the falling leaves ending is quite beautiful in the way it is expressed,
'But in their beauty strewed
Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.'
This quite beautiful and makes it sound lovely and finished the poem nicely. It could be interpreted in different ways; you could think that it meant something about the soldiers dying and that it is like snowflakes falling but also, it could be interpreted in some other ways.
10. Both poems use repetition but in different ways.
The Send of uses repetition by repeating something three times when it talks o how 'few' soldiers return; 'So few, so few, too few'. This puts a lot of empathis on this sad line.
In Falling Leaves the writer repeats using a simile about snowflakes which makes the reader really think about the comparison of snowflakes being like leaves and what it implies.
My points for The Send Off and The Falling Leaves
ReplyDelete1.The Send Off uses repition to emphasise his meaning that some soldiers will return from the war but it is "a few, too few, too few" for any celebrations to occur. However, in The Falling Leaves, the poem uses no repition as the reader gets the message of death beacuse of the metaphors that are included in this poem.
2.I think that The Send Off was published as a reminder to those who would have seen this sight up and down the country during the war years but The Falling Leaves was written as a reminder to those who had lost a loved ones and to remind others on what was really happening in Europe.
3. The poet of The Send Off writes the poem as a description of the scene that he would have seen but the poet of The Falling Leaves likens what she can see around her to what she knows is happening in the war.
Alexia