POETRY COMPARISON

1. POETRY COMPARISON Paddy and Abi

2. HITCHER This poem can be seen as a monologue by the narrator, in which he confesses to murdering a hitchhiker. From the beginning, we are able to see that the narrator and the hitchhiker are alike – both hitch a ride often and both are roughly the same age. At the beginning of the poem, it is stated that the narrator has been tired, under the weather – and due to this he is on the verge of being fired. Consequently, we are able to tell that he is stressed and frustrated. Unable to relieve his stress towards his work or his boss, the hitcher is the victim of the narrators outburst of anger

3. O WHAT IS THAT SOUND. O What is that Sound' is a poem written by W.H. Auden, which was written around the time of the Second World War. The poem depicts a man in a small village involved in an invasion by an opposition army. This army rises from the bottom of a valley, and from the beginning, we, as the audience, are able to tell that the soldiers are coming, and from there, the army just comes closer and closer until reaching his house, attempting to break into his house, knocking the door down.

4. BELFAST CONFETTI This poem is portrays the story of a local Northern Irishman caught in an IRA attack and the aftermath of it in the streets of Belfast, near his home. The title itself may have certain positive connotations, such as celebration, but it relates to the shrapnel found in the bombs often used by the IRA. In the poem, the author Ciaran Carson only tells the story – he does not take sides in terms of the bombings.

5. HITCHER & O WHAT IS THAT SOUND? SIMILARITIES STRUCTURE: Regular, concrete and stable. PACE: Over the course of both poems, the pace increases. The poets are telling a story, a recollection of previous events.

6. HITCHER & O WHAT IS THAT SOUND? DIFFERENCES Hitcher is a monologue by the narrator of the poem, whilst O What is that Sound is a conversation between a man and his wife. Language: In 'O what is that Sound' uses old language, whilst in Hitcher, much more modern language is used, such as the Vauxhall Astra and ansaphone - two modern franchise names Context: In Hitcher, the narrator is the attacker, whilst in O What is that Sound, the main characters in the poem are those being attacked.

7. HITCHER AND BELFAST CONFETTI SIMILARITIES Both poems involve the narrator telling the audience a story. Pace is an important aspect of both poems - as more action happens and the mood changes, the pace increases. Both poems are written in the first person, whilst still presenting to the audience what is happening.

8. HITCHER AND BELFAST CONFETTI DIFFERENCES - Belfast Confetti uses a large amount of figurative language, with the audience being given a clear image. Hitcher is written with a lot less figurative language, giving the audience a realistic image. - Belfast Confetti is written in an obvious time frame, during the IRA raids in Belfast. The time period when Hitcher is written is ambiguous, yet is set in a more modern time period than Belfast.

9. O WHAT IS THAT SOUND & BELFAST CONFETTI • SIMILARITIES • Both poems are set during a wartime period: Belfast confetti was during a violent clash between the nationalists and the unionists whilst O what is that sound was during an earlier war. • In both poems, the narrators are or are about to be captured.

10. O WHAT IS THAT SOUND & BELFAST CONFETTI • DIFFERNCES: • In Belfast Confetti, the writer is alone and telling us a story in contrast to O What is that Sound where there is a dialogue between two people, possibly a couple. • In Belfast Confetti the tense shifts from past to present unlike O What is that Sound which is in the present tense all along. • The two poems are completely different in terms of structure: In Belfast Confetti, there are only two stanzas and they are irregular.In O what is that Sound there are 9 stanzas, with each made up of 4 lines. • O What is that Sound follows a constant ABAB rhyming scheme. Belfast Confetti has no rhyming scheme.