Stage 3
Task 4 - Critical Study
'The Wind'- Gregor Lamb and 'Wind' Ofellia Zepeda
In this essay I am going to compare two poems, 'The Wind' by Gregor Lamb and 'Wind' by Ofelia Zepeda.
'The Wind' by Gregor Lamb is an Orcadian poem with Orcadian dialect. It has rhyming couplets eg 'The wind wan night fell fae the skies; And yaaned and stritched and rubbed his eyes' the skies and eyes rhyming. Many of the couplets end in a dialect word and if
spoken in English the couplets wouldn't rhyme at all eg 'No trees tae stop me rushan ither; I don't ken any place ah'd rither;’ and if this were in 'proper' English it would be 'no trees to stop me rushing either; I don't know any place I'd rather;’ which spoils the rhythm as well as the rhyming couplets.
Humour is used a lot in this poem, it describes the wind as a mischievous person, using personification to make the wind sound like an alive thing trying to have a good time and cause as much disruption as possible. A lot of the humour is only appreciated if the reader has local knowledge of Orkney and its people. A lot of the more known about sites in Orkney are used as well as not so known ones such as Yesnaby, Scapa Flow, Hoy Sound and many others.
The tone used is light and comic, the wind just wants to have fun and if that involves causing lots of trouble so be it.
The wind is a very playful character, it can be associated with trows (Orkney folklore) and Puck (Midsummer's Night's Dream).
The overall theme in this poem is that if you live in Orkney you just have to put up with the wind and try and not let it stop you getting on with things and try and make a joke of it.
This poem comes from a booklet called 'Come Thee Wiz' Orcadian dialect poems by Gregor Lamb, an ex-Stromness Academy pupil and Stenness Primary head teacher.
'Wind' by Ofelia Zepeda has no dialect but it reflects the beliefs and philosophies of Native Americans.
This poem has no conventional structure with no rhymes or regular verses, just three sections which show the poets ideas about wind flowing from the present to the past and myths and legends of the poet’s people.
Very powerful imagery is used here in describing the wind, such as ‘A brown wall of dust and dirt: moving debris that is only moments old; debris that is hundreds of years old.’
The first section is the poet’s own thoughts about the wind and it shows how much she enjoys the 'wind season'. The next part is the poet remembering her father’s reactions to the wind and we find out that the poet inherits her love of the wind from her father. Section three has the tribal story of how the wind is needed to bring the much needed rain, this is using a legend in a modern poem and showing that the ancient beliefs are carried down the generations. This poem uses a lot of different ideas such as personal memories, myths and the poet’s own feelings.
This poem was written by Ofelia Zepeda who is a member of the Tohano O'odam, the desert people of Arizona.
The two poems reflect two very different ways of life in two very different places with very different ways of looking at things and different folklore and legends.
The Orcadian poem has a structure with rhyming couplets but the other poem has no structure but just glides from one section to another.
The first poem uses a lot of local knowledge and well known people but the American poem is more of a reflection of life not about a specific place or person.The second poem gives a more serious view of life and is almost trying to tell the reader that, but the Orcadian poem is making a joke of the wind which we have plenty of, but the second poem shows that the wind doesn't come often there.
I like the Orcadian poem better because it is light hearted and fun and I know more about the places in the poem and definitely know a lot about the Orkney wind!
In this essay I am going to compare two poems, 'The Wind' by Gregor Lamb and 'Wind' by Ofelia Zepeda.
'The Wind' by Gregor Lamb is an Orcadian poem with Orcadian dialect. It has rhyming couplets eg 'The wind wan night fell fae the skies; And yaaned and stritched and rubbed his eyes' the skies and eyes rhyming. Many of the couplets end in a dialect word and if
spoken in English the couplets wouldn't rhyme at all eg 'No trees tae stop me rushan ither; I don't ken any place ah'd rither;’ and if this were in 'proper' English it would be 'no trees to stop me rushing either; I don't know any place I'd rather;’ which spoils the rhythm as well as the rhyming couplets.
Humour is used a lot in this poem, it describes the wind as a mischievous person, using personification to make the wind sound like an alive thing trying to have a good time and cause as much disruption as possible. A lot of the humour is only appreciated if the reader has local knowledge of Orkney and its people. A lot of the more known about sites in Orkney are used as well as not so known ones such as Yesnaby, Scapa Flow, Hoy Sound and many others.
The tone used is light and comic, the wind just wants to have fun and if that involves causing lots of trouble so be it.
The wind is a very playful character, it can be associated with trows (Orkney folklore) and Puck (Midsummer's Night's Dream).
The overall theme in this poem is that if you live in Orkney you just have to put up with the wind and try and not let it stop you getting on with things and try and make a joke of it.
This poem comes from a booklet called 'Come Thee Wiz' Orcadian dialect poems by Gregor Lamb, an ex-Stromness Academy pupil and Stenness Primary head teacher.
'Wind' by Ofelia Zepeda has no dialect but it reflects the beliefs and philosophies of Native Americans.
This poem has no conventional structure with no rhymes or regular verses, just three sections which show the poets ideas about wind flowing from the present to the past and myths and legends of the poet’s people.
Very powerful imagery is used here in describing the wind, such as ‘A brown wall of dust and dirt: moving debris that is only moments old; debris that is hundreds of years old.’
The first section is the poet’s own thoughts about the wind and it shows how much she enjoys the 'wind season'. The next part is the poet remembering her father’s reactions to the wind and we find out that the poet inherits her love of the wind from her father. Section three has the tribal story of how the wind is needed to bring the much needed rain, this is using a legend in a modern poem and showing that the ancient beliefs are carried down the generations. This poem uses a lot of different ideas such as personal memories, myths and the poet’s own feelings.
This poem was written by Ofelia Zepeda who is a member of the Tohano O'odam, the desert people of Arizona.
The two poems reflect two very different ways of life in two very different places with very different ways of looking at things and different folklore and legends.
The Orcadian poem has a structure with rhyming couplets but the other poem has no structure but just glides from one section to another.
The first poem uses a lot of local knowledge and well known people but the American poem is more of a reflection of life not about a specific place or person.The second poem gives a more serious view of life and is almost trying to tell the reader that, but the Orcadian poem is making a joke of the wind which we have plenty of, but the second poem shows that the wind doesn't come often there.
I like the Orcadian poem better because it is light hearted and fun and I know more about the places in the poem and definitely know a lot about the Orkney wind!