Fort Malcolm X Poetic Techniques

In the poem, For Malcolm X, Margaret Walker uses the poetic form of the sonnet to mourn the loss of . Walker combines the conventional characteristics of both the Italian and English sonnet form to suggest that death may kill a man, but it will not kill the movement he represents.
Together the poems “fort Malcolm x” and “methought I seen my wife” depict how the loss of an influential person affects in differing states of mind.
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Walker uses literary devices and techniques consistent with the structure of an Italian sonnet to arouse emotion. Traditionally, a sonnet is 14 lines long and consists of two parts: the proposition and resolution. These parts divided by a turn, which results in the proposition being given a new perspective in the final section. In an Italian sonnet these sections are broken into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet. The absence of a visible rhyme scheme is a major variation in Walker’s, which allows poetic freedom other formal requirements have been met. The strict structure of a traditional sonnet is written with a thematic statement commonly associated with addressing the poets’ personal desire of a female subject; however, Walker employs unconventional poetic

technique to convey a singular event and the subsequent thought it provokes.
uses the turn in the twelfth line to change the emotional tone.

The closing couplet changes the speakers focus in a different but related way – waking them up from the realization that life goes on.
Written on the occasion of loss of a dear friend, Tennyson …
Although “In Memoriam 27” is an elegy, it uses structure to emphasize the resolution, just as Walker did. Broken down into a distinctive stanza form, each quatrain sets up potential metaphors that are realized in the final two lines.
The last two lines of the poem for Malcolm x ask a rhetorical question which has the speaker alludes to a Christ like figure. This turn although unconventional places emphasis on the death of a Christ like person who was crucified on the cross of the civil rights

movement.

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Walkers begins the poem For Malcolm X with an octave tat follows the conventional characteristics of the Italian form. In the octave the speaker presents the problem that the people do not realize what has been lost as she calls everyone to “gather round and mourn their dying swam”. The second stanza, known as the sestet, is where the speaker changes her focus from gathering the crowds of people to becoming one of the people. Diction changes as the speaker is now speaking as “our” instead of your.
In John Milton’s sonnet the sonnet form is used in a different way.

Historically, the sonnet has been regarded as one of the most complex and influential forms of lyric poetry in English literature.
The use of a sonnet in place of an elegy would have to be attributed to the length. In a more structed form the poet is enabled to create a short and powerful message. Although the modern day use of a figure was used that does not mean the poet does not want to express love for the male subject. Instead of objectifying him she looks to idolize him.
In summary, both poets express similar feelings to loss. The loss of an important figure in ones life provokes questions about the