A Poetry Comparison of Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes and Nothing's Changed

A Poetry Comparison of Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes and Nothing's Changed

The poem 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a

Mercedes' has been chosen to be compared with 'Nothing's Changed'.

'Nothing's Changed' is an autobiographical poem. Tatamkhulu Afrika has

written this poem on the system of apartheid, which kept white and

black South Africans segregated. He writes that, despite the changing

political situation, there are still huge inequalities between blacks

and whites. 'Two Scavengers…' describes four people held together for

a moment at a red traffic light. Lawrence Ferlinghetti writes about

the differences that he has observed in society. Both the poets reveal

their ideas and feelings about the particular cultures and traditions

that they are writing about through the structure, language, imagery &

tone of the poems. Both the poems are similar in a number of ways.

The structure of the poem 'Nothing's Changed' is quite simplistic. The

poem is set out in six stanzas, each of eight fairly short lines. This

kind of regularity in the layout creates a sense of control. The poet

is very clear about what he is feeling - no sudden flying into a rage.

But within that pattern the length of the sentences varies from a

whole stanza to just two words. The poem itself is cyclical, linking

with the idea that 'nothing's changed'. One can easily notice the

fourth stanza because of its unusual length. This could be considered

to be the key section of the poem as it deals simply with the message

of the poem as a whole - "we [black people] know where we belong".

The structure of the poem 'Two Scaven...

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...ays of life portrayed seem

impossibly perfect. The closing lines of the poem involve a metaphor

about the sea. If America is the high seas, the distance between the

two vehicles is a 'small gulf' (line 35). I feel a sombre, muted tone

is maintained throughout the poem.

Overall 'Nothing's Changed' is more of a political poem. 'Two

Scavengers…' is also very similar to it. Both the poets reveal their

idea and feelings about their particular cultures and traditions in a

number of ways. An angry, violent attitude is projected in the first

poem rather than a sombre one in the second. Both poems have

similarities as well as differences. I personally felt a bit uneasy

reading these two poems but they were amusing at the same time. Both

the poems are excellent pieces of written work, and they were both

highly enjoyable.