Use of Language in Love in Place and Love Poem Medley - Essay Example

Poems Comparative Analysis The two poems presented by Nikki Giovanni – Love in Place, and that presented byRuddy Francisco- Love Poem Medley have been used to demonstrate use of stylistic devices in presenting a theme in a poem. The two poets have exploited different use of language in presenting themes Though the poets present their poems by contrasting mood and attitude of the poem, they manage to strike some balance that allows the audience to understand that one theme can be presented through different tone, attitude and mood. From the poem, the audience finds the work of Nikki Giovanni quite interesting. In her writings in the Love in Place, she elaborates on some “love in place” which moves nowhere and is static against time. This love is not changing at all. From this point, a theme is already brought. This theme of “love” is shared by both the poems. Closer examination of both poems reveals to the audience some kind of mood that is used in the poem. In Love in Place, Nikki Giovanni says that “I know I must have fallen in love ones because I quite biting my cuticles and my hair is gray”. Yet in the poem from Love Poem Medley, Ruddy Francisco suggests such kind of love which is far away and yet it would still be there. This is the point that the two poems draw some contrast. Both the poets have been able to deliver their themes on the same topic, and yet they use different tones. Nikki Giovanni is quite straight and to the point with how she presents the persona. She delivers the feelings of the persona right within the poem. According to the Rudy’s Poem, he, distances himself from the love by repeatedly insisting that what he is talking about is nothing to do with love. “I am not a love poet”. This statement he repeatedly makes, which sinks into the mind of the audience and reveals some sarcastic view on the matter of love. From what Nikki suggests, in her reiteration that she has stopped biting her fingers, it would be inferred that the poet is trying to relay to the audience the progress she has made and changes that have occurred in life since when she was in love. Both the poets try to present greater appreciation of love. Nikki Giovanni appreciates love by keeping things the same way as they used to be. She portrays the person as having not changed in her appearance. The natural changes in her body have remained the same including her gray hair. The Francisco equally appreciates love by complementing the lady, who she wishes would have been her lady, but yet must understand that love is a painful affair to him. The two poems however presents some contrast in terms of the time setting of the love. While Nikki Giovanni thinks that time has changed a lot since she was in love and yet that love remains, Ruddy Francisco remains futuristic in his perception of love. In the poem, he repeatedly insist that “If I were to wake up and find myself a love poet” and that “if this were a love poem” the time setting of the poems marry together at certain point, where the poet in the video hopes that the lady would be his lady while Nikki depicts the persona as having some love within reach yet she is not in that love anymore. Nikki in her poem Love in Place presents some nostalgic view of love, by suggesting that she appreciate love today more than before. But Ruddy Francisco, presents love in a satirical manner. At the beginning of the poem, he says that “I want you to bite my lips until I can no longer speak,.. and then suck my ex-girlfriend’s name out of my mouth just to make sure she never comes up in our conversation” to reveal how Ruddy thing that love is painful and that reflecting on the past love is a hurtful experience, he suggests that, “every time I try to write about love, my hands cramps, just to show how painful love can be. The two poets have revealed the different world views they hold to love. Apart from appreciating that she enjoys love more than before, Nikki Giovanni also reveals that being in love makes one find meaning and feelings which have the ability to connect two people. Ruddy, creates some humor through the use of imageries while describing love. “I have always believed that real love is kind of like a super model before she is hair-brushed”. By this statement, Rudy is trying to suggest that real love should be natured before its beauty is realized. This is the contrast that Rudy’s poem has with the Nikki’s Love in place. Nikki feels that love does not need nature and should be left just as it is. She says that “I see the old photographs and I am smiling and Im sure quite happy but what I mostly see is me through your eyes and I am still you and slim and very much committed to the Love we still have. As she looks at the old photograph, where she was younger, slimmer and happier, and yet now time has moved quite long and her appearance has been altered, she still believes that the love she had is still static. There is a further contrast between what Rudy’s love, which is respects time and thinks that love is an imperfect thing. According to Rudy, if he has to write about love, then the only thing that should remind him that they were in love is “scar” He uses such kind of imagery to reveal how love is a painful experience. At the beginning of his poem, Ruddy, presents love in a negative way, which makes a first listener to think that the poem is not a love poem at all. However, in the middle of the poem and through to the end, he reveals how he loves to be in love. Nikki however has made the poem flat with the theme of love presented right from the beginning to the end. Work Cited Giovanni, Nikki, and Virginia C. Fowler. The collected poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998. New York: William Morrow, 2003. Print. "Youtube." Love Poem. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. . Read More