The poems 'next to of course god america i' by E. E. Cummings, and 'Flag' written by John Agard both the notions of blind nationalism and patriotism within the context of war and conflict.
Within 'Flag', Agard uses five tercets shaped like flags to accentuate the extended flag metaphor that repeats throughout his poem. These flag shapes are a reference to Agard's own poem, and in turn, the themes Agard portrays within the poem. On the contrary, Cummings utilises a modern and free verse interpretation of a Petrarchan sonnet, in order to portray that the narrator of the poem is rambling and slurring phrases. Furthermore, John Agard constructs two voices within each stanza. One for the question and one for the answer, whereas Cummings deliberately …show more content…
/ It is just a piece of cloth". Oppositely, Cummings deploys more of a perplexing and contradictory within his poem. The quote, "centuries come and go / and are no more what of it we should worry" demonstrates the confusing nature of this tone. Furthermore, the diction used to express the tone within each poem is also different. Agard follows standard grammatical rules of the English language, and he features the rhyming scheme "pole, bold" and "tent, relent" throughout his poem. Although it should be noted that Cummings has his own rhyming scheme in his poem; "i, my...oh, go", Cummings breaks several language conventions within his poem. This is done in order to reinforce the confusing message of the politician's speech. In particular, the lack of capitalisation and proper punctuation allows words, and their meanings to blend together. Hence, this enjambment ultimately muddles together patriotic themes within the poem. In 'next to of course god america i" allusions are made to the bible and the US national anthem, "say can you see by the dawn's early my". These allusions further assert Cumming's belief that God and America come before the mortal man. Agard does not use allusion, but he instead uses the alliteration
Within 'Flag', Agard uses five tercets shaped like flags to accentuate the extended flag metaphor that repeats throughout his poem. These flag shapes are a reference to Agard's own poem, and in turn, the themes Agard portrays within the poem. On the contrary, Cummings utilises a modern and free verse interpretation of a Petrarchan sonnet, in order to portray that the narrator of the poem is rambling and slurring phrases. Furthermore, John Agard constructs two voices within each stanza. One for the question and one for the answer, whereas Cummings deliberately …show more content…
/ It is just a piece of cloth". Oppositely, Cummings deploys more of a perplexing and contradictory within his poem. The quote, "centuries come and go / and are no more what of it we should worry" demonstrates the confusing nature of this tone. Furthermore, the diction used to express the tone within each poem is also different. Agard follows standard grammatical rules of the English language, and he features the rhyming scheme "pole, bold" and "tent, relent" throughout his poem. Although it should be noted that Cummings has his own rhyming scheme in his poem; "i, my...oh, go", Cummings breaks several language conventions within his poem. This is done in order to reinforce the confusing message of the politician's speech. In particular, the lack of capitalisation and proper punctuation allows words, and their meanings to blend together. Hence, this enjambment ultimately muddles together patriotic themes within the poem. In 'next to of course god america i" allusions are made to the bible and the US national anthem, "say can you see by the dawn's early my". These allusions further assert Cumming's belief that God and America come before the mortal man. Agard does not use allusion, but he instead uses the alliteration