Poetry+Comparison

5. The Old Swing

She sits on the old swing under the maple, trailing her high heels in the dust, pushing it back a little, letting it go, her eyes closed, remembering when she was small and strong and swing would soar up to the clouds as she tugged on the rough ropes, leaning way back, kicking her legs forward, then falling and pushing for backward lift as a child loves to do on a sunny afternoon on the swing her father has made.

I see her sitting on the old swing under the tree, no longer a child, dreaming. I imagine her pulling and stretching, letting her legs go as she leans back, sweating, pumping for height over the wires and fences, into the torrid sky

as a young woman loves to do on a hot afternoon till the ropes slacken and the rush of the air is stilled and all movement ends down in the dust on the strong swing nature has made. 11. Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins, And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun burns crimson bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind. Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends. Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And watch where the chalk-white arrows go To the place where the sidewalk ends. Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, For the children, they mark, and the children, they know The place where the sidewalk ends.

I choose the poems The Old Swing and Where the Sidewalk End. Both of these poems are about the happy, carefree almost imaginary world of children. Where the Sidewalk Ends is about children creating their own little world, whereas The Old Swing is about an adult remembering their childhood. These Poems both have a symbol one a sidewalk and one a swing. These both represent some aspect of childhood. The sidewalk represents safety, comfort and is almost an artists pallete for them, where as the swing represets kind of letting go and forgetting everything. Neither of these poems are particularly structured. They both give off a slightly carefree feeling. Where the Sidewalk Ends has rhyme that is deliberate where as The Old Swing doesn't reall use rhyme at all. The Old Swing has a more realistic feel whereas Where the Sidewalk Ends is more imaginary. Both of these poems rely hevily on imagery. They are both poems that bring pictures onto your minds. The Imagery in Where the Sidewalk Ends is more to describe things that arent real like "pepermint wind", but The Old Swing is describing more everyday things. The Old Swing has characters, but Where the Sidewalk Ends is talking to people in general and not as much to a secific scenario. They portray simiar ideas in very different ways.