Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works
E M. Tu
English Literature 125
M V
05 August 2012

Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works
The creative process is often filled with emotions, and throughout it, it is not uncommon to experience the whole gauntlet of highs, lows and everything in between. The poems, “poetry” and “constantly risking absurdity” are two works that are filled with similarities in the creative process and yet they are very different. These two works give insight to the creative process from each poet’s perspective. They are both excited by it, but they achieve their goal through traveling different routes. As much as they like and appreciate the finished product you cannot help but believe that they are just as fascinated, captivated and even enthralled by the process itself. The creative process for them is a lot like certain aspects of life, and it is demonstrated in their work.
Ferlinghetti’s experience is not one made up purely of joy, in fact; it is filled with struggle, but it is a journey in search of joy and of beauty. He must take risks and is willing to do so in pursuit of the desired goal every time he performs. He starts his poem in a manner using words that immediately catches your attention. You are immediately drawn in by his description of the risks that a poet must take each time he performs before an audience. There is always the possibility that he may end up looking like a fool (risking absurdity) when he put himself out

Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works before the world. He even uses the metaphor of death to show the seriousness involved in demonstrating his craft and the dire consequences of not doing it in a manner that pleases his audience. It is risking death. He then goes further to give more insight into his views. How exactly is it possible to “die” from this experience? Mr. Ferlinghetti explains; he compares the process to an acrobat performing a high wire act. When I think of an acrobat, images of a circus immediately come to mind, and I think of the audience sitting with bated breath expecting to be entertained by the death defying stunts executed by the performers. The analogy is clear, the life of a poet and the risks that he takes are no different. It is necessary to do this in pursuit of the goal that he wants to achieve, and similarly in life, very often we must take risks in order to reach our stated or desired goal. “The poet is trying to convey the message that life is meaningless without a purpose, worse than death” (studymode.com, 2010, constantly risking absurdity). The imagery that the poet uses is effective in conveying the idea that risk taking is a part of life, and confronting our fears should be a natural part of the growth process involved.
The poet goes on to describe parts of his performance as “performing entrechats”. An entrechat when performed in a ballet is a thing of beauty and wonderful to behold, but even so; he understands that there are no guarantees and he does not mistake “anything for what it may not be, for he's the super realist who must perforce perceive taut truth“. When we take risks in life, as in art; there can be a lot of reward, but there are no guarantees of outcome. It is a natural thing to worry about living up to your own expectations, and wonder if you will
Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works achieve the goals that you set for yourself. In reaching toward your high and lofty goals there is always the risk of being rejected and or falling further down and risking death. The author also uses the structure of his poem to demonstrate the message that he wants to convey. The text is in written in an unconventional manner and the rhythm of the poem is not consistent. Each line of the poem is of a different length and there is no meter or any set pattern to follow. “What is most noticeable about the poem is that the lines not only vary in length, but in placement also. Some are far to the left, while others are drastically indented. When we look at the entire poem, we see it resembles a winding staircase-- each line is a step or ledge that needs to be climbed. This is fitting given the subject of the poem. Acrobats must climb up intricate ladders to reach the high wire, and have to find the courage to leap and swing from ropes” (DeVitt, 2010 Universal Journal). He also uses run on sentences, a lack of punctuation and other non- traditional methods to get his points across. This entire poem was purely a risk on his part and he chose to not only demonstrate it in the content of his work, but also in its structure.
“Poetry” by Pablo Neruda is a poem that gives voice to what it is like to be inspired as a poet. The writer immediately gives insight into his awakening, when he first discovered his passion for poetry. It came effortlessly and flowed from his soul. He never went looking for it, but he found it, or more appropriately it found him. It was his moment of discovery; he opened himself up and willingly allowed the experience (the overflow) to take a hold of him. He leaves
Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works no doubt about this in the mind of the reader. The poem speaks of the joy and the liberation of finding and embracing ones calling. The first two lines immediately set the tone for the rest of the text and the reader is instantly captivated by the writer’s passion. Poetry for him is not just something that he does, but it is part of who he is. He uses the different language devices to bring out for the reader, the essence of the creative process and what it means to him. His use of metaphors and imagery help to give added life to the poem and draws the reader in further without much effort. When he speaks of the heavens becoming unfastened and open, it conjures up images of an outpouring of inspiration. Just like when one is caught in a downpour of rain, so too was he caught, but he sought no shelter. He welcomed it and he began to gladly use it as a way to find expression.
By personifying poetry, the writer gives a personal touch to the work. Poetry came almost like a benevolent benefactor that rescued him. He was just another faceless being who had no reason for anyone or anything to bestow such a gift upon him. His meeting with poetry was so happenstance, so random that he does not even remember from where, when or how it came. The impact of this chance meeting though, was so profound that it changed his life. He does remember it as a moment of gentle kindness; it touched him when he was called from among all of the faceless people and e became a man imbued with the rhythm, the beauty and the inspiration of poetry. Though his first attempts at putting words to paper are meager at best, he continues to feel compelled to write and he soon begins to discover how much there was for
Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works him, from which he could draw, as noted: “with his first faltering attempts to create poetry, he sensed a vast imaginary world opening up, making him look insignificant—"infinitesimal being"—yet he was connected to a limitless source of inspiration. As a result, he felt compelled to express his absorption (Clugstan, 2010, Journey into literature, 3.2, p.2).
The work of these two writers is an obvious example of poetry imitating life. On the one hand, Ferlinghetti views the life of a poet as an example of life’s struggles, while the poem by Neruda depicts the beauty of discovery. One man attempts to show that in the pursuit of worthwhile goals you often have to face obstacles, risk making a fool of yourself and continuing to push forward nevertheless. Neruda’s experience is interesting, because even though he gives an example of one of life’s experiences from a totally different perspective; it is interesting to note that he still had to do something. After being awakened by his discovery, he had to write. The inspiration in itself was not enough to make something happen. Poetry was not going to write itself; he had to write the first faint line, and so it is even in life. On the rare occasions when a path is made or laid out for us, we still have to take action in order to gain the benefit of what is given to us. We have to reach out and take it. They also use imagery to skillfully make their point to the reader. The use of the imagery of the acrobat conveys the idea that Ferlinghetti is depicting. You can immediately make the connection, and grasp the deeper meaning behind what he is saying. Life can sometimes be like a balance act. It is sometimes difficult to keep your focus in light of the many peering eyes that are constantly on you. You may fall, hurt yourself,
Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two works embarrass or even risk losing all that you have, but life would not be worth much if we did not take risks and only pursued the safe route. When Mr. Neruda speaks of and compares himself to an infinitesimal being in the vast universe that has just opened up to him, the imagery is vivid and we can understand why he sees himself this way in the light of his new experience. At the beginning of each poem, they both immediately lay out the essence of their work. In each case the point is clear and the reader does not have to dig too deep to see where each poet is going with his writing. The bottom line is clearly stated up front, and they each go on to astutely make the case for what they stated.
The persona in each of these poems is different. Ferlinghetti seems to be writing this poem from the perspective of an outsider looking in. He speaks as one who is enthralled by the performance of the poet and what the poet has to go through in order to satisfy his audience. From this perspective, he comes across as someone who is viewing the performance without the agenda of an “insider”. He is simply “calling it as he sees it”. He is a member of the audience. Adding this element to the poem gives the poem an even stronger feeling of authenticity. He is not just calling himself an acrobat or describing his performance as death defying; he is not giving his own “wa”r story, but someone who has witnessed the performance is giving it. As a result of this he has to go into the mind and psyche of the character to relate what the character sees. He has to “think like that character. Imagine that character’s thoughts,

Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis of two work actions, skills and limitations. Try to capture the world in which that character lives and portray it as if he were that character”. (Hewitt, 2010, Prewar.com, how to write a persona poem). On the other hand; Mr. Neruda writes his experience from his own perspective; he is using his own voice. In this instance, writing the poem from this perspective is just as effective as the outsider’s perspective in Mr. Ferlinghetti’s, because he is giving his experience. He is not writing of a perception, but of something that happened to him. The first person narrator voice is most appropriate here, because no one can better describe the experience that he had. In writing this poem in the first person, the writer can aptly speak of what was taking place when poetry “arrived” in search of him. The response that he had to its arrival and the emotions that flowed out from deep within him catches the reader’s attention in a very forceful manner. It also allows for anyone having a similar experience to “own” the poem in a way that he or she may not otherwise. The reader can say “yes, I know about this” in a very personal way, whereas; reading it from the perspective of the outsider may not necessarily allow the reader to connect in the same way even though he/she may be able to identify with what is taking place.
In “constantly seeking absurdity” the writer also implements the use of the third person omniscient. We see it when he says “and all without mistaking anything for what it may not be For he's the super realist who must perforce perceive taut truth”. In doing so he takes the role of the audience member a bit further. The audience member is not just looking at the performance but he/she is able to see the thoughts running through the poet as he performs
Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis his acrobatics. Both works go into the detail of each experience but the use of the third person omniscient in this instance is another one of the differences in these two poems; in addition one of the poems uses simile and the other only uses metaphors to describe the relevant experience. Each is effective in its use and, the point of the poem comes through saliently.
The tone of both poems is also quite different. When reading “poetry” there is a sense of joy and illumination that is portrayed, the writer is almost euphoric and he conveys that beautifully in the descriptions of his experience. He is definitely fulfilled by what has happened to him and the fact that he did not go looking for it makes it even more of a joyous occasion. “I felt myself a pure part of the abyss, I wheeled with the stars, my heart broke loose on the wind” not only demonstrates how he came to feel like he was part of this great big universe, but I believe that it also is an expression of the joy that he felt coming from way down in his soul. The tone of constantly risking absurdity depicts struggle, the pressure of performance and the fulfillment of doing your job to the best of your ability. The image of the acrobat climbing the ladder to the high wire, and heading toward beauty where the “little Charlie Chaplin man may or may not catch her fair eternal form spread-eagled in the empty air of existence all do the job of effectively conveying the tone of the poem.

Comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis
Some other differences in the works are found in the structure of the poem. Mr. Ferlinghetti uses a very unconventional approach in his writing of this poem. As highlighted earlier, there is no punctuation, and the rhythm is uneven throughout the poem. There seems to be a deliberate attempt to make the structure of the poem a representation of the acrobats climb to reach the high wire. Even though they both are writing about their perception of poetry, and both experiences can be related to life, obviously their individual experience is different. One of them is reaching toward a goal; the other seems to have found his. It is interesting to note that just as in life we sometimes are traveling toward the same destination; the road that we travel to get there is different. Each man is fascinated by the product but they are just as fascinated by the process.
Having assessed both of these poems, it is clear that both writers share a deep passion for poetry and see it as an expression that can be truly representative of life. One writer clearly speaks of his joy in discovering the medium and the way it has affected his life, while the other speaks of the struggles of the poet, and the life lessons that can be garnered through its performance. The similarities that they share are evident, but the differences also cannot be missed. In the end though, in spite of their differences they both manage to saliently project the ideas that they wanted to convey to their readers.

References Studymode.com: 2012: constantly risking analysis.
Retrieved from: http://www.studymode.com/
Universal Journal: 2012, P. Devitt, (2011), Constantly risking absurdity
Retrieved from: http://universaljournal.com/
Poewar.com: 2010, J.C Hewitt, 30 poems in 30 days http://poewar.com/30-poems-in-30-days-persona-poems/ Clugston, R. W., (2010).
Journey into Literature
Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/4