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Literary Comparison Essay

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Literary comparison of ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney and ‘Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity’ by John Tobias

Who doesn 't like reminiscing back to their childhood? Remembering all those joyful and unforgettable moments, wishing to go back. In these two poems, ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Haeney and ‘Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend Called Felicity’ (referred as ‘Watermelon Pickle’) by John Tobias both incorporate this concept of nostalgia. This essay will include a close examination of John Tobias’ and Seamus Heaney’s poems and how they compose these poems distinctively in tone however, they both demonstrate the theme of nostalgia and childhood with the utilization of sensory language.

Sensory Language is vital part of both ‘Blueberry Picking’ and ‘Watermelon Pickle’ and they show …show more content…

The mood changes from the euphoric and perhaps slightly disturbing atmosphere in the first stanza to that of gloom in the second stanza. The melancholy tone in the stanza is emphasized by the choice of words “rat-grey”, “stinking” underscoring the sickening state and unpleasantness of the rotten berries. The poem deduces in a more sad, grave, accepting tone, revealing that even the child “hoped [the blackberries would] keep, knew they would not.” Contradicting, ‘Watermelon Pickle’ ends with a sad but hopeful tone saying “the bites [of the watermelons] are fewer now” stating how his joyful childhood has ended. The hopeful tone is the point as which he says “when we… Slice off a piece… Unicorns become possible again.”, he states how when he eats the watermelon there is hope that childhood can be re-lived. To conclude, these two poems have different tones from beginning to end that gives the reader a contrasting impression from each

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