Facing It Poem

In the two poems “Facing it” and “The names” there is a great deal of similarities and differences that can be compared and contrasted between the two pieces of writing. Some of these comparisons being in the similar themes of each poem, the difference in situations that are being used, and the differences in how they go about explaining the aftermath and effects of so much death and/or tragedy. The first way that both “Facing it” and “The names” are comparable is in the way that the themes of each poem is based similarly around the circle of life. This is shown in “The names” when Collins states “In the morning, I walk out barefoot among thousands of flowers heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,”(lines 11-13) you can see how the

In “Facing it”, Komunyakaa makes death seem to be a very hard to handle and live with. He states “I said I wouldn’t dammit: No tears.” (Lines 3-4) and “I see the booby trap’s white flash.” (Line18). He is taking such a harsh event and making it look as though it is almost worse to live through than to have died in. He makes it to where the narrator had to pretty much imagine what he’s been through just to remember it. However, in “The names” Billy Collins makes remembrance not see so bad. Collins says “Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream” (line 10) and “Names in the small tracks of birds.” (line 50). Collins makes remembering a happier thing than Komunyakaa. He makes the narrator see the life around him in order to remember the death vs. how Komunyakaa makes the narrator remember and see the death in order to remember it. The authors both go about making the remembrance using names but they do it in different ways. Collins make the narrator see the names and remember the people in which have passed. However, Komunyakaa makes the narrator see the names on the wall and have flashbacks and almost like panic attacks about the past. As you can see “The names” and “facing it” are very comparable poems taking into account their similarities and differences. They are vary similar in their themes, the difference in events in which they are about,