Poem+Comparison


 * 2. Carving A Name**

I wrote my name upon the sand, And trusted it would stand for aye; But, soon, alas! the refluent sea Had washed my feeble lines away.

I carved my name upon the wood, And, after years, returned again; I missed the shadow of the tree That stretched of old upon the plain.

To solid marble next, my name I gave as a perpetual trust; An earthquake rent it to its base, And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.

All these have failed. In wiser mood I turn and ask myself, "What then?" If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men,

In characters of living light, Of kindly deeds and actions wrought. And these, beyond the touch of time, Shall live immortal as my thought.


 * 7. The Road Not Taken**

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

The two poems I chose were "Carving A Name" and "The Road Not Taken". The two poems have the same number of lines, twenty, where the first has five paragraphs of four lines (2 and 4 rhyme but 1 and 3 do not), and the second has four paragraphs of five lines (A-B-A-A-B). Rhyming happens but in different places, so it is not much of a relation. Both of the poems are about choosing paths in life and how only you choose what you do with your life. They have the same theme, but they each are different metaphors. "Carving A Name" means that he will make his mark in history, "Taking the road less traveled" means that he will be different and make his mark in life, which is exactly the same thing. Inside the poems there are also a lot of metaphors, which is how the two talk about different things yet still relate.

For the use of poetic devices, like I said, there are a lot of metaphors. In "Carving A Name" when the author says that he is carving his name he really means that he is making a mark in life. In "The Road Not Taken", the roads are different paths in life that you can take to decide ones fate. They both are talking about how one can do something to be remembered, but it is up to the individual who decides he wishes to make such a mark to do so. There is also personification that is imminent in both poems. In "Carving A Name", the author gives shadows the ability to stretch, yet they do not have the ability to physically do that themselves. In "The Road Not Taken", the author gives the road the ability to diverge in a wood and want something. Roads cannot want or diverge on their own. There is no other types of poetic devices in either of the poems except for symbols. The road and the all the places that have been carved on all symbolize life and its many twists and turns.

The reason why I chose these two poems is because I thought they were very interesting and they had a good approach on humanity. They are very meaningful poems and should mean something to anyone who reads them.