Cultural Difference Essay

equal and Contrast the Poetry of James Berry and John Betjeman, with particular reference to the Cultural Differences. Refer to at Least two Poems by each PoetJames Berrys verse forms are written from the locating of a lady named Lucy. Lucy moved to England because she had heard the streets were practically paved with gold t here. She pens letters to her friend Leela in the form of poems. Lucy regrets her move to England in a lot of shipway and finds it gloomy and cold.She misses Jamaica and doesnt truly like capital of the United Kingdom but she is too proud to admit that, so her letters also block a number of positive yet vain sounding points about the advantages of living in England, such as, An doctors free. Lucy writes of how she has, turned a battery hen, in the poem Lucys letters because she feels trapped in London. She was use to a relaxed and golden way of life in Jamaica so the culture in London came as a big shock to her. London is a lot bigger and much less frie ndly than Jamaica. In Jamaica everyone k without delays each other so Leela asked Lucy in a letter to her if shed ever met the Queen. Lucy is apply to the unspoilt beauty of the Jamaican scenery so London comes as a big change. She describes it to Leela asA parishOf a pasture-lan whatGrown crisscross streets.In Jamaica Lucy could leave her door unlocked but write of how she cant do that in LondonI carry keys everywhereLife heres no opensummer.She sees the lifestyle as monotonous because every day seems the same. She feels in some ways that she doesnt really belong in London. In the poem From Lucy Englan Lady she describes the Queen as macrocosm, care she a space touris, because she is somewhat alienated from the rest of the population. Lucy feels she can relate to her because she feels alienated too. Lucy ends the poem with the Jamaican proverb, Bird sing sweet for its nest, meaning you should stick to what youre suited to.When Lucy travels back to Jamaica, she realises it has ch anged and nothing is as she remembered it. She is glad to come back but feels she doesnt really belong there either anymore. around things like the sun, the sea and the fruit they eat hasnt changedI eat a mango under(a) treeA soursop ripened for meA pawpaw kept.She appreciates the sun more aft(prenominal) universe in London for so long as well and she is pleased these things are as she remembered them. The beautify has changed but more importantly, the people have too. Everyone she knew has changed and she is no longer friend with everyone. She writes about her holiday in the poem From Lucy Holiday ReflectionsI seePuppa is bones in the groun,Mumma cant see to burn up mountnLan.She knew her founding father was dead but it doesnt really hit kinsfolk until she sees it for herself because in her mind he was still alive. She uses personification when describing the landscape, writing, Big fig tree gone as ghost. The one thing that hasnt really changed is Leela who is just as she remembered her. She is glad they are still friends though, compensate though Lucy has changed, finishing the poem by writingToo many sea waves passed betweenUs, chile. Let us remind the other,Length of time gets length of rope buried.Betjemans poems are named after counties and describe the country lifestyle he was used to when he was younger. His county poems are written in two contrasting sections. In the poem Hertfordshire Betjeman writes of how he was made to join his fathers shooting syndicate. His father thought he was a milksop after he accidentally fired a gas pedal into the ground, sayingHow many times must I explain?The way a boy should expect a gun?In the second half of the poem, Betjeman writes of how that large, open countryside has been replaced with rows of identical and box-like houses. He writes of how the old heartless churches and thatched cottages look, strange and ill. He sums this up by writing, One cant be sure where London ends, this relates to an earlier line in the poem, naming villages that used to be miles away from London which are now part of it. It caused his father great unhinge to see his son couldnt shoot, which contrasts greatly with the happy kind between Leela and Lucy in Berrys poetry. Betjeman ends the poem with the wordsFar more would these have caused him painThan my mishandling of a gun.This mean even though he was upset that his son couldnt shoot, it would have garbled his heart to see the Hertfordshire countryside had been urbanised. It is also ironic that the ones who appreciated it were also the ones who destroyed it for the next generation.In the poem Essex, Betjeman writes as he looks at a colour plate book. The book contains pictures of Edwardian England. Betjeman describes it as beingLike Streams the little by-roads runThrough oats and barley round a hillTo where blue willows elate the sunBy some white weathered boarded mill.