comparison encounters with creatures
Encounters with Creatures
In the poems “An Advancement of Learning” and “An August Midnight” the connection between both poems is their focuses on their encounters with creatures, Heaney’s with a rat on a river embankment and Hardy’s with several nocturnal insects that fly through his window. Both draw on the idea of their personal encounters with creatures to portray these ideas.
In contrast they are composed of different structures. In “An Advancement of Learning” it is composed of nine stanzas of four short lines which lend the poem a sense of sudden flashback images. In contrast “An August Midnight” it is made up of two stanzas with six long lines, giving the poem a calm, contemplative quality.
In “An Advancement of Learning” Heaney draws on his childhood phobia and fear of rats. This is due to his experiences of fear growing up on Mossbawn farm in the 1940s. The rats provide a link between his childhood and his urban life as an adult. “An August Midnight” is based on Hardy’s Darwinism beliefs which pervade the poem. It is based on Hardy’s beliefs that all animals were sentient, conscious beings worthy of human respect based on the evolutionary theory that all living things are related. His scientific interest is also evident in the close up acute details of the insects’ anatomy “winged, horned and spined” and Hardy’s fascination with natural history, which was typical of many middle class Victorians.
The settings of both poems are very different. In “An Advancement of Learning” it is situated outside in an urban river landscape. It is uninviting as the river is portrayed as polluted with “dirty-keeled swans”. Overall it is an urban setting and grubby environment, where it conveys the negativity of the encounter. Whereas in “An August Midnight” it is inside and a welcoming scene inside Hardy’s study where the insects are lured in by lamplight and an open window in an alluring interior.
The opening of “An August Midnight” is atmospheric which fits
In the poems “An Advancement of Learning” and “An August Midnight” the connection between both poems is their focuses on their encounters with creatures, Heaney’s with a rat on a river embankment and Hardy’s with several nocturnal insects that fly through his window. Both draw on the idea of their personal encounters with creatures to portray these ideas.
In contrast they are composed of different structures. In “An Advancement of Learning” it is composed of nine stanzas of four short lines which lend the poem a sense of sudden flashback images. In contrast “An August Midnight” it is made up of two stanzas with six long lines, giving the poem a calm, contemplative quality.
In “An Advancement of Learning” Heaney draws on his childhood phobia and fear of rats. This is due to his experiences of fear growing up on Mossbawn farm in the 1940s. The rats provide a link between his childhood and his urban life as an adult. “An August Midnight” is based on Hardy’s Darwinism beliefs which pervade the poem. It is based on Hardy’s beliefs that all animals were sentient, conscious beings worthy of human respect based on the evolutionary theory that all living things are related. His scientific interest is also evident in the close up acute details of the insects’ anatomy “winged, horned and spined” and Hardy’s fascination with natural history, which was typical of many middle class Victorians.
The settings of both poems are very different. In “An Advancement of Learning” it is situated outside in an urban river landscape. It is uninviting as the river is portrayed as polluted with “dirty-keeled swans”. Overall it is an urban setting and grubby environment, where it conveys the negativity of the encounter. Whereas in “An August Midnight” it is inside and a welcoming scene inside Hardy’s study where the insects are lured in by lamplight and an open window in an alluring interior.
The opening of “An August Midnight” is atmospheric which fits