English Poetry Essay

Poems are written in many languages, in many different ways and are read throughout the world. Two poems that will be compared are “The Toys” by Coventry Patmore and “Little Boy Blue” by Eugene Field. The poem “The Toys” is better than “Little Boy Blue” because it uses more effective types of figurative languages, the theme is more universal, and the tone is more serious.

The poem “The Toys” uses more effective types of figurative languages than “Little Boy Blue”. One of the more effective types of figurative languages is allusions. “The Toys” uses biblical allusion in the poem, which is effective because everyone can relate to the bible, which makes it an effective figurative language. For example “Having my law the seventh time disobeyed” which means that his son has disobeyed him seven times. Another type of figurative language is alliteration. “The Toys” uses alliteration in the middle of the poem, which makes it effective because it keeps the poem interesting, and it makes the reader want to read it more. For example “And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art”, “And six or seven shells”, and “A bottle of bluebells”. In “Little Boy Blue” the poet uses alliteration in the beginning of the poem which is not that effective because the reader will get bored by the middle of the poem. An example of the alliteration in the poem is “And the little toy soldier is red with rust” and “And his musket moulds in his hands”. Therefore “The Toys” uses more effective figurative languages than “Little Boy Blue”.

“The Toys” theme is more universal then “Little Boy Blue”. The theme of “The Toys” is that every parent feels inadequate. This theme is more universal than “Little Boy Blue” because it is more insightful and every parent can relate to it. For example the verse “I struck him, and dismissed, with hard words and unkissed” this quote shows us that the father hit the son, then yelled at him and sent the son to his room. The “Little Boy Blue” theme is less universal because the theme is too simplistic. The theme is not that universal because not everyone can relate to