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Dudley Randall's Ballad of Birmingham: Literary Analysis and Interpretation - Essay Example

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This is the "Dudley Randall's Ballad of Birmingham: Literary Analysis and Interpretation" essay. Art is a form of expression. Artists use their art to express themselves to society. …
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Many poets have made pieces on things they see that affect society. The two poets of concern in the article are Dudley and Wilfred Owen. The two are considered as one of the most impressive poets who made poems against the war in their countries. Dudley Randall was an amazing artist, especially his poems. He was born on the fourteenth of January 1914 in the Washington D. C. state. As a child, he lived a life of exploration of various things. One of his main agendas was to improve on his intellect as he developed.

Dudley was also a serviceman. He served many people and organizations in his lifetime. But his best accomplishment was on his entrepreneurship. But he was also talented in poetry. When Randall was a child, he would write poems filling up many of his notebooks. Some of the topics he would write included the struggle and impact civil of rights and the movements that occasionally took place in the country. Randall also loved to write about travel and adventure. His work and personal experience in life were also important to him and ended up in his many poems over time.

In Dudley Randall's Ballad of Birmingham: Literary Analysis and Interpretation, Randall had worked in several places over his time, gaining the experiences he required to be successful in life. During World War II, he served at the Pacific Theater. He also worked for a while in the motor industry working for Ford. Randall also worked for a while for the Postal Company. All this time, he was gaining the experiences and resources he required to start his own business. After working for other organizations and his country, he was finally able to build his own press company known as the Detroit Free Press.

Randall's organization was able to create and publish many African American authors who did not have a platform to publish their art products, not society. Randall was also able to have his poems published by his own company. Although he owned and ran the Detroit Free Press, he made sure he had time to continue writing his poems. Randall had observed society since he was a kid and recognized some issues that affected the nation. In most of his poems, he wrote on the unjust treatment and inequality that existed.

Ballad of Birmingham is one of his most iconic poems that details the struggles and challenges in society. The poem is based on the challenges people faced in the early years of the 1960s regarding the inequality and racial discrimination in the motherland. If it is not clear yet, the main themes of the poem included racism and struggle. The poem is based on a conflict that is happening between a mother and their child. The child is aware of the struggle for equality in the country and would like to join the protesters.

But the mother is against letting her child joint the march for civil rights. The mother wishes to protect the child from the dangers and actions that take place during a protest. She knows the violence and pain of people of color face when they demonstrate for equal and civil rights. The poem is based on a dialogue between the mother and the child. Randall uses intimate tones to show they care and love the mother has to the child and the child's urge to go for the march for her people's civil rights.

She tries to give the child other options on how she could spend her time, but the child is eager to go to the march. She does not want to play with others. She says that the others will join her for the march for civil rights on a quest to make their country free for everyone. But along last, the mommy convinces her to go to the church where she is safe from the challenges during demonstrations. The poem ends on a sad note as the mother is calling for her child at a bombed church detailing that nowhere is safe for people of color in the country.

Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem by Wilfred Owen. Wilfred used it to describe the reality and effects of conflict in society. Wilfred's main agenda was to clearly show the events and effects of war on the people and society. In his poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, he shows how people and the government can encourage the citizens to join the war, how war is glorified, and made to be a good thing to the people. Wilfred states that people who encourage others to join wars and fight are sentencing them to death.

Wilfred also uses Dulce et Decorum Est to give vivid memories of the actions and events that took place during the Second World War. He creates vivid scenes where he describes graphic details of war Imagery and similes are used to make Dulce et Decorum Est more vivid to the listeners and readers. Some of the words he uses to create interest in the poem include saying that the soldiers would march asleep and were drunk with fatigue. Adjectives are also used to create more horrific scenes. Dulce et Decorum Est also has irony used by Wilfred Owens.

The last statement of the poem is ironic as it states that it is sweet and glorious to die for one's country. Wilfred uses irony to try to discourage people from enlisting into war and from encouraging others to join wars.          

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