Comparison Essay Essay, Research Paper

COMPARISON ESSAY

“For on carved instant as they flew”, from the poem Seagulls , by E.J. Pratt, two poets, E.J. Pratt and Henry David Thoreau, were almost one in the same. Both of them wrote about things that interested them, such as technology in the mid-nineteenth century and nature, these things, were also some of their major influences. Their style was to make their poetry powerful and full of energy using many elements. They are quite similar in the way that their influences, themes, and style, often reflect each other s work, even though they were from different countries.

What poets write about is generally based on what influences them, and what influenced Pratt and Thoreau were many of the same things. Pratt was a very versatile writer, but his major influence was always the ocean, because he grew up in New Foundland, and anything that had to deal with it, like sea animals, or birds, and in the poem Seagulls , he makes references to the ocean. “As those wild orchids of the sea”, thus referring to the birds and wild flowers in the vast garden, known as the Atlantic. He was also influenced by violence in W.W.II to write a poem called Behind the Log , as well as a poem based on the story of the Titanic, titled The Titanic. “From the Titanic fretting at its base,” He was not only influenced by history, and racism, but also machine age, as a result, he wrote From Stone to Steel, from stone to bronze, from bronze to steel. This line is showing that people as a civilization, have evolved from the stone age-cave men, to the bronze age-roman times, to steel, now. Thoreau lived in the wilderness, alone, for two years, and was influenced by nature in many forms, on and off this planet thus leading him to write poems such as Low Anchored Cloud , and The Moon . In The Moon , Thoreau refers to his love for nature when he comments on the beauty and radiance of the moon, when he says, “but shining steadily”. He also expressed a belief in the politics of his time, when he wrote Civil Disobedience , because he lived in solitude, he became aware of the world inside of him, and this influenced him to write about man’s attempt to find truth and meaning through living as simple as his. Although their influences were the same, they were also different at the same time, because they often reflected different aspects of the same theme, like the technology that was vastly developing in the mid-nineteenth century intrigued Thoreau, he believed it was only a distraction from his work, while to Pratt, it was exciting and he wrote poetry on it. However, because of such differences, these poets remain unique.

The themes between Henry David Thoreau and E.J. Pratt were similar in some ways, such as nature and technology. Thoreau lived in solitude for several years, and this brought him closer to nature and his surroundings. Pratt grew up in a small fishing village, and thus, became interested in the sea, another part of nature. The poems from both authors, are both written about different aspects of nature. An example from Seagulls , by E.J. Pratt is, “A thousand wings are furled. and from Thoreau’s The Moon , “The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray”. This shows that both poets have similar interests in the earth. Both men were intrigued by the machine age, and the effect it had on people’s lives. Although this interested Thoreau, he did not write about it because he felt that it was distracting him from his work. However, Pratt, on the other hand, wrote several poems about this such as From Stone to Steel . Although these men do not always write about the same things, it can be seen that they have similar interests, and have a strong belief in what they write about.

Style is what makes a poet unique, and although many different poets write in many different styles, Pratt, and Thoreau, seems to have the same technique. As seen in the poems analyzed, Thoreau and Pratt both use imagery and other elements to add a sense of strength and power to their poetry. In Seagulls Pratt describes the seagulls as “silver, crystal, and ivory” he also mentions there are “a thousand wings furled” this gives the seagulls in his poem a sense of power because there are so many of them, they are almost over-powering. In Thoreau’s poem The Moon, he describes the moon as “the mistress of the night”, and because he says, “morality below her orb is placed”, it gives the feeling that the moon possesses a strength unknown to the mortal world because, “time wears her not” and so it watches over us. The power and passion that E.J. Pratt and Henry David Thoreau put into their writing makes even more interesting.

E.J. Pratt and Henry David Thoreau were very similar in their writing. What poets write about is generally based on what influences them, and what influenced Pratt and Thoreau were many of the same things. In The Moon, Thoreau refers to his love for nature when he comments on the beauty and radiance of the moon, when he says, “and if she faintly glimmers here”. The interests between Henry David Thoreau and E.J. Pratt were similar in some ways, such as nature and technology. Both authors wrote about different aspects of nature. An example from Seagulls , by E.J. Pratt is, “and carriage of the wings would stain the drift” this is saying that there many birds of the land, and from Thoreau’s The Moon , “yet always in her proper sphere”, and this describes what the moon looks like, and he notices that it is always the same. Thoreau and Pratt both use imagery and other elements to add a sense of strength and power to their poetry, and that is what makes them unique in both different and same ways throughout their lives.