123 School Work

james and the hugantic apple

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  Personal Study- Literature
  
  
  Poem Comparison
  
  
  
  In poetry, personification is frequently used to portray more significant and meaningful issues. 'The Wasps' Nest' by George MacBeth is a short poem which at a first glance merely tells of a man gazing out a window at a Queen wasp. However, under closer analysis it becomes evident that the poem is in fact giving a description of the narrator's feelings towards the wasp, and how he has to overcome various emotions that are triggered by its actions. Edwin Muir's 'The Late Wasp' gives a very different perspective on wasps; the narrator is describing a lone wasp that visits his breakfast table everyday of the summer, ever becoming more familiar as it weakens in its age. This shows a very different side to an insect that is usually feared. In both poems, different techniques are used to convey universal human issues by the image of a creature, although in contrasting forms.
  
  'The Late Wasp' is not as much about the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, but the actions of the wasp. It illustrates the aging of the wasp and the passing of time in the same way, by comparing it with the changing and ending of the season. This use of an extended metaphor is effective as the reader will be able to imagine how the wasp reaches its peak and then proceeds to deteriorate, just like the seasons. In this poem the wasp is portrayed as becoming weaker and older whereas the Queen wasp in 'The Wasps' Nest' is compared to, 'Helen combing her hair...