Comparing two poems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Comparing two poems - Essay Example The poets Stephen Crane and E.E. Cummings each illustrate the negative effects of capitalism and the absurdity of the business of enterprise on common people in poems such as â€Å"The Trees in the Garden Rained Flowers† and â€Å"When Serpents Bargain for the Right to Squirm.† In the poem â€Å"The Trees in the Garden Rained Flowers,† written by Stephen Crane, the speaker becomes an advocate for the poor. The author attempts to make the reader realize the problems faced by poor people because they have few opportunities in life: â€Å"They gathered the flowers / Each to himself. / Now there were some / Who gathered great heaps- / Having opportunity and skill- / Until, behold, only chance blossoms / Remained for the feeble† (Crane, 3-9). These lines refer to the economic fact that people who have skill and money are able to take advantage of possibilities while the poor people have little benefits and few possibilities. The poet uses figurative imagery throughout the poem to relay a visual description of what the speaker is trying to say. The flowers represent economic possibilities, the garden becomes the economy, the children are the common people, the tutor represents advocates for the poor, and the father represents the government. In the narrative of the poem and translating this figurative imagery, an advocate for the poor approaches a governmental representative, and complains about the poor not receiving their fair share of economic possibilities, but the representative tells the advocate that he should not worry because it is right for the strong, and the shrewd to have more opportunities. The speaker says, â€Å"Upon reflection, the tutor bowed to the / ground / ‘My lord,’ he said / ‘The stars are displaced / ‘By this towering wisdom’† (Crane, 25-29). In presenting things this way, Crane exaggerates the government’s reasoning that it is right for the wealthy to have the