On a Portrait of a Deaf Man and Casehistory: Alison - A Comparative Gasp - Essay Example

Sir John Betjeman’s “On a Portrait of a Deaf Man” and Ursula Askham Fanthorpe’s “Casehistory: Alison (head injury)” are two amazing poems that takes a look back and reminisce as well as contemplates the reality of the now. The two poems take the symbolism of looking at a portrait or a picture and seeing all the jovial memories that the past had to offer and what it meant to the person by transporting the persona to those particular moments of space. This is then sadly juxtaposed to the tragedy that is brought about by the physical limitations that they suffer. The poems tackle themes that are more profound than happiness in contrast to sadness. There are also the themes of death and faith that are enveloped in the narrative. It was essentially the recounting of the person that exemplified vitality and who had been shaken of all his and her potential because of bodily functions or life itself that was lost. The two poems are well-structured works. “On a Portrait of a Deaf Man” is a quatrain and employs very lyrical lines in eight stanzas. The metre is consistent at patterns of 8/6/8/6 in every stanza, where the first line would consist of eight syllables, the second with six, the third with eight and the last line again with six. The persona talks in the first person in reference to a third man who is the subject of the poem. The text starts off as very narrative relating how the subject of the poem looks including all the other features that are not physical in nature such as his idiosyncrasies. But then the tone turns serious and the persona takes on revealing his outlook and his distraught. “Casehistory: Alison (head injury), on the other hand, is a tercet with three-lines per stanza. Unlike the first poem, this is not as rhythmic but the metre is a consistent six syllables on every first line of every stanza except for the last line which stands in its own stanza with only five syllables. The syllabic metre on the second and third lines of the 10-stanza poem varies between 11/5, 11/6 or 12/6 patterns. The poem does not have much preamble unlike the first and the tone is straightforward in being resentful but there is also the notion of pondering the good old days. But the sentiment is more toward indignant in the picture of the girl that she is seeing. The poem talks about the life of the person in the photograph before being restricted completely by lack of mobility. The emphasis is on the past tense, comparing the person that she was back then and how she is today. Talking about his father, Sir Betjeman’s poem, illustrates the man and what he was like. There was focus not on his memory of their happier days together but a matter-of-factly disclosure of what the man was including what he liked, how he dressed and the things they enjoy doing together. Then on the fourth stanza, he reveals the change brought by deafness but it did not affect their relationship “And when he could not hear me speak/ He smiled and looked so wise” (Sir John Betjeman, On a Portrait of a Deaf Man, lines 13-14). There remains the fondness in the recollections though the persona was speaking of the time when his father was already unable to hear. This illness did not bother him and he still regarded the man with utmost respect. It wasn’t the deafness but death that troubled him the most. The certainty of death and the things that actually happen to man’s physical body appalls him and the poem turns very macabre. The last two lines show the persona as someone who represses his real feelings as he says, “You ask me to believe You and/ I only see decay” (Sir John Betjeman, On a Portrait of a Deaf Man, lines 31-32). Death made him disillusioned on his notions of faith and believing in God as kind and loving. There is the disbelief that what he knows based on religious teachings that he must pray for other people’s souls is a source of torment to him. The loss of someone he loves so dearly and praying gives him no relief whatsoever but only makes him question all the more why these things should happen. Also a discourse about loss, UA Fanthorpe’s poem may not talk directly of death but it is still a fate which could be considered much worse than actual passing. Here, the image of the persona is looking at an earlier photograph of herself, as the introduction suggests. It talks about life and the vivid memories of the person that she was. The achievements that had shaped her and the bright future that was ahead of her. She talks about having autocratic knees. Giving such a powerful description to a body part and describing it further by stating it was like a dancer’s and filled with poise. But then disdains it as something that is only dragging. There is such a great sense of sorrow in this imagery that the reader immediately feels sorry and saddened by what happened to the persona and the empathy the suggestion implores. “Poor clever girl! I know/ For all my damaged brain, something she doesn’t:/ I am her future” (UA Fanthorpe, Casehistory: Alison (head injury), lines 25-27). These lines give sense to the title and to everything that was signaled throughout the poem. The tragedy of a young woman at her prime and one who had the world at her fingertips loses everything to paralysis. Death is sad as a given fact but seeing someone breathing but unable to enjoy the quality of life she deserves may just be a fortune much worse than death. This is made worse by the fact that she has to depend on other people for everything because her illness is complete incapacity. She is rendered hopeless by the body that was once subject to her will. The poem ends, “A bright girl she was” (UA Fanthorpe, Casehistory: Alison (head injury), line 28). The use of past tense in the line reinforces the emotion brought about by the disparity of the girl who had been so vibrant and how she had become incapacitated. The two poems made use of structure to convey the meaning and message for the reader to comprehend. More than this, the imagery of the authors made it easy to appreciate and create a mental depiction of how the persona describes a scene through his perception. The themes of both relate in that the sadness and the hopes of the past in contrast to the present. It is that suggestive what could have been intertwined to the reader’s emotional compassion that relates to its vision. Loss, whether by death or by physical incapacity, will always impress nostalgia on the life that was and the life that it no longer is. “On a Portrait of a Deaf Man” and “Casehistory: Alison (head injury)” make us grasp that things out of our control do happen, and when they do, we become helpless creature of destiny. In turn we question our faith and we question our entire being. These emotions make us human and they make our appreciation for life all the more precious. Bibliography Betjeman, J., n.d. On A Portrait Of A Deaf Man. [online] All Poetry. Available at: [Accessed 20 May 2014]. Fanthorpe, U.A., n.d. Casehistory: Alison (head injury). [online] BBC UK. Available at: < http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetrycharactervoice/casehistoryalisonrev2.shtml > [Accessed 20 May 2014]. Read More