COMPARE/ CONTRAST ESSAY

Name Professor Course/Subject Date Difference in Diction Affects the Tone of Poetry John Milton`s "When I consider how my light is spent" and Seamus Heaney`s "Digging" are two poems that address the general subject of "the life of being a writer" and yet the authors used different dictions thus affecting the mood and tone of their poetry. In these two poems we can generally sense the contrasting vocabulary and style of expression of the two authors giving a sense of distinctiveness of the authors` differences of articulation and enunciation although both are expressing their insight on a relatively similar subject. By comparing and contrasting these two poems, we can generally say that the use of diction affects the tone of poetry and possibly create new spaces for meaning and interpretation to emerge. It is clear that both of the authors have dedicated their lives to writing as can be seen from the narrative of their lives. John Milton is not only a poet but a philosopher and an influential man in the field of politics while Seamus Heaney was a Nobel prize recipient in literature and is also a playwright and lecturer. In their poems they were both contemplating their own existence as a writer. However John Milton`s diction and choice of words gravitated toward the religious language where he tries to imagine a conversation with God. He asks the question, " Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?" Although Milton here was referring to his physical blindness when he says that "his light is spent" as we can read from the conclusion of his poem that he is not worthless and that he can still best serve God in whatever capacity he has-which is to write. On the other hand, Heaney does not refer to a god but to a family tradition of farming in which he deviated from. His chosen career is to write where he asserts his individuality and breaking up with tradition like a gun. He says, "Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun". Although both authors allude to the value of their writing, Milton chooses to enunciate this value through a religious conversation referring to the judgment of his soul that even if he was already blind, he can still serve God in what he can do best (which was writing). Heaney on the other hand, refers to his writing very assertively like a "gun". We can see here that both authors have different contexts where they affirm the value of their existence as a writer. Milton`s context in his poem ref...