Poem Comparison

     When the question "Are all poem's alike?" is asked, some may say yes and some may say no. If I were to be asked this question I would head over heals say that no, poems are never alike. Each poem is defined by its unique qualities that contribute to its undermining purpose and inspiration. The only characteristic that all poems share is individuality. Every poem and its author strives to be different from all the rest and aims to motivate and inspire its audience in a way that no other poem has. They all attempt to spark action and movement in their audience. Two poems that I read that are so different but at the same time similar are Working Together, by David Whyte, and Everything is Going to be Alright, by Derek Mahon. David Whyte's Working Together is a poem that portrays how humans are affected, shaped, related to, and involved in the world. In his poem, David makes it clear to depict how the world is so quick to shape and define and help us be the person we would like to be. Everything is Going to be Alright is a poem that depicts the positive in every negative situation. Individuals are in fact going to experience rough times, but in the end, things resolve and everything is okay in the end. These two poems are both so similar in which they both shift from the negative and positive aspects of life and how they affect us all, but are different in the manner that they achieve different goals and depict for totally different themes.
     Both authors of the two poems relate the surroundings of individuals to the individual and how the surroundings affect its inhabitants. David Whyte utilizes this purpose to illustrate how the world shapes the person we are and want to be. On the other hand, Derek Mahon utilizes it to relate the atmosphere to the fate of the individual and the outcome of it whether it be beneficial or costly.
Perspective is another aspect that both authors cover. Like the purpose of each one, one author focuses on one thing and the other focuses on the opposite. Mahon uses a  perspective that depicts a satisfying feeling after the situation has resolved, while the other author expresses many perspectives and  continually questions the results rather than accepting them and moving on with life. Another unique similarity between the two poems is how the author achieves its purpose and goal by using the end of the poem to summarize the point they are trying to get across to their audience. In “Everything is Going to be Alright.”, Mahon ends his poem with the theory that everything will be okay in the end. In "Working Together", Whyte ends his poem with “…by forming it well to the great intangibles about us,” which concludes the poem with the idea that our surroundings shape who we are as individuals.  Both of the authors use similar tactics to getting their points across to the audience but contain totally opposite themes and points.
      When considering tone in the two poems, one would agree that they are both totally opposite of one another. "Working Together" has a more reflective and reasoning tone while "Everything is Going to be Alright" contains a  hopeful tone. In both poems, the diction and tone they utilize contribute to their overall themes. Mahon uses an hopeful tone and illustrates the theme of searching for the positive of every situation. Whyte utilizes a reasoning and reflective tone that relates the shaping of individuals to the surrounding environment. Another similarity that both authors assimilate is a shift that hesitates the negative and positive of life and its situations. Mahon presents this when he states death is a common thing and is experienced by everyone at one time in their lives. With this line, he reveals such a negative and gloomy subject but then goes back to the theme and declares that death has a positive side just like everything else in life. Whyte, like Mahon, does this by revealing that we are shaped and structures by the world we live in.
     Like I stated earlier, poetry attempts to spark movement and action in its audience. It enables an individual to express themselves freely with no limits and also express their imagination. Every individual contain different rigors of imagination and purpose behind their writing with restricts all poems to be exactly the same. Although they contain the same motive to gain the audience's involvement, every poem achieves this in different ways by utilizing different literary techniques.