Journeys are something to be documented. The trip that is taken to reach a destination is one that should be written down and told to the world. Whether it be through novels, television, or in this case- poetry. Mary Oliver and Charles Bukowski have both written immensely famous poems focusing on a specific journey. In “The Laughing Heart” the journey is to reach the potential offered in life. Whereas in “The Journey” the destination is far away from the troublesome situation depicted in the first ten lines of the poem. While both poems are focusing on a journey, they contain differences in relation to the tone, theme, and figurative language used within each.
Tone is the attitude that the reader feels from the reading the poem. In “The Laughing Heart” the theme is optimistic. In lines three and four, it is said “be on the watch./ there are ways out./ there is a light somewhere” (Bukowski). The narrator of the poem is assuring the reader that there is a way to the light- which in this case, represents happiness. The way Bukowski uses the repetition of the phrase “be on the watch” creates an urgent tone (Bukowski 3,8). Where the tone in “The Laughing Heart” remains optimistic yet urgent, “The Journey” has a change in tone. The beginning of the poem has a sad tone, as if the subject of
…show more content…
However, in “The Journey,” this subject is leading themselves, on their own accord because they needed to. “The Laughing Heart” shows the subject being lead on the accord of the gods to happiness, because they “wait to delight in you” (Bukowski 19-20). Through these themes, each poet creates tones that both eventually end in optimism, yet “The Laughing Heart” was not nearly always optimistic, but were rather sad at first. “The Journey had a continued tone of optimism