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I Am A Cowboy In The Boat Of Ra Analysis

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Comparing and contrasting poems Poetry often takes different forms mainly because different poets have different styles through which they communicate their intended messages. According to Kathy, it is this style that defines the different works by different composers (Kathy 7). This paper hereby seeks to compare and contrast Heaven and I am a cowboy in the boat Ra. The main objective herein is to identify the similarities as well as differences between the two pieces of work. Apparently, the two poems were written by renowned composers in the late 20th century. Heaven Heaven is a poem written by an Asian American poet called Cathy Song. Song is perhaps best known for winning the Yale series of Younger Poets Award in 1983 with Picture Bride (Kathy 7). Since then, her career enjoyed tremendous success …show more content…

According to Weiner for instance, Song portrays China as heaven, a mystical place that is a dream destination for everyone upon their death (Weiner 3). On the contrary, the narrator describes his current home as “What we’ve come to own, the broken fences, the whiny dog, the rattletrap cars” (3-4). Ideally, this is stark opposite of heaven. I am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra is an iconic poem that was written by Ishmael Reed in 1972. Reed has been described by many scholars as being great, complex and contradictory. According to Robert for instance, intricacy is one of the most defining factors that distinguishes Reed’s work from that of a host of other poets (Robert 37). This poem in particular is much misunderstood by many readers. Robert describes it as dazzling, confusing and infuriating in almost all aspect (Robert 38). In general however, the poem is a dizzying mix of references to a wide range of things including the Old West, Egyptian methodology and history, African ritual, religion and jazz. Comically, all these references lead to the question: Who am

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