Poetry is one of the oldest modes of literature, and has many different uses and forms. But why use poetry? What does it achieve that a film or novel cannot? Poetry can be defined as "the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts." The word elevated suggests that said thoughts are greater than average, meaning poetry can describe difficult-to-express imaginings. Some other defining features are that all words in a poem are chosen for a reason, and they are concise, precise, and aesthetic, which often enables them to express something otherwise inexpressible. These characteristics were taken advantage of by W.H. Auden, who wrote about the aftermath of the death …show more content…
These both are times of political unrest and emotional upheaval. Both poets here take advantage of the fact that poetry "doesn't necessarily have to conform to limits or formats of any kind." The single stanza structure and lack of punctuation in Shire's poem causes it to be quickly paced and sometimes unstoppable, tension and emotion building until it breaks into a new torrent of cutting words. This makes the poem as a whole very confronting. However, Dawe's similar structure creates a very different effect. The abrupt beginning and offensive phrases strewn throughout the poem cause it to be confronting too, but instead of showing the horrors of being forced to leave your country (as Shire conveys), Dawe presents a monologue of threatening and berating soldiers preparing for war. The juxtaposition of these two poems is that one uses confrontation to show extreme emotion, whilst the other uses confrontation in an attempt to suppress emotion. Imagery is also used in both to further emphasise this. Shire uses phrases such as "home is the mouth of a shark," "prison is safer than a city of fire," and "the words are more tender than fourteen men between your legs," to horrify the reader and make them empathise - or at least sympathise - with the awful circumstances asylum seekers face. When she writes "go home blacks / refugees / dirty immigrants / asylum seekers," we see how words can indeed be less painful and "easier to swallow" than the others issues they have faced. Many insults are used by Dawe - "why are you looking at me are you a queer," "open that drain you call a mind," "rotten fish-sauce breath" - to show how unhuman they teach soldiers to