poetry+comparison

I wrote my name upon the sand, And trusted it would stand for aye; But, soon, alas! the refluent sea Had washed my feeble lines away.
 * Carving A Name **

I carved my name upon the wood, And, after years, returned again; I missed the shadow of the tree That stretched of old upon the plain.

To solid marble next, my name I gave as a perpetual trust; An earthquake rent it to its base, And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.

All these have failed. In wiser mood I turn and ask myself, "What then?" If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men,

In characters of living light, Of kindly deeds and actions wrought. And these, beyond the touch of time, Shall live immortal as my thought. ** Realization ** I am a different man One who died and was reborn A boy man Haunted by childhood A survivor A wiry man Full of rage One with little choice Wrestling demons Welded to irony A kid minus a father A guy without dreams A hermit <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A hobbit <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A hungry man <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cornered, imprisoned, beaten <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A fearful man <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A lost soul <span style="background-color: #e7b9fe; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Plagued by personalities A living blank Humiliated but stubborn A disregarded man A walker, a dancer, a runner An impatient man A merciless victim A religious man A singer of the heart An indignant man labeled man Buried alive A Neanderthal An android A metaphorical man A disabled man A violent man A dictator at war with wisdom A man condemned to victory The two poems are very different, and yet, each reminds me of the other. The theme of //Carving a Name// has a theme of being remembered. I interpret the poem as being about a wanting to be remebered as great. The author won't give up until he is sure that his name will be remembered. Not giving up is the theme I found in my other poem choice, Realization. Realization's theme of hope makes me think of the lines from Carving a name: //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All these have failed. In wiser mood, ////<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I turn and ask myself, "What then?" //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Because in this line, the author knows that there is a way to be remembered. The author has already tried in multiple ways to put his name on the earth, but still when nothing works he believes in himself and comes up with yet another method. When finally his attempts pay off and he is remembered, he is not surprised. Right from the start off the poem the author knows that he can come up with a solution. He never loses hope. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In realization the author talks about a man who is many things, including //Humiliated but stubborn//. The man spoken about is going through a battle, it is a battle in his own mind, but a battle none the less. Within this battle "the man" seems to be losing. He is being //Buried alive// but he doesn't lose hope, he doesn't give up. He is //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A dictator at war with wisdom, //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a war I'm sure would be hard to fight, but in the end he wins. This man may not be satisfied with the outcome, perhaps he wanted a tie, but still he won. I say he wasn't satisfied because of the line // A man condemned to victory //. Condemned makes me think he wanted differently than to win. But he still won, because he never gave up. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The two poems each touch on two very important aspects. Carving a Name is not only about never giving up but also about being remembered for doing good things. Realization is about believing in yourself as well as not giving up. The main difference I see in the two poems is the writing style. The poem Realization describes a person, how he thinks, how he feels, and not his actions. The other poem Carving a Name describes only the author's actions but not him as an actual person. The two poem have many similarities and many differences, a good contrast in my opinion.