Comparing 'Slough' With 'Belfast Confetti'

'Slough' and 'Belfast Confetti' are two completely different poems, by two completely different people. 'Slough' by
John Betjeman is a plea for 'friendly bombs' to obliterate the suburban town, getting rid of the industry that is slowly
ruining it. However 'Belfast Confetti' by Ciaran Carson is about how devasting the bombings were for Carson,
and how they put him into a deep state of shock.

At the very beginning of 'Slough' by Betjeman, we can immediatley see how much he despises Slough.
On the first line, we see 'come friendly bombs'. Betjeman used a juxtaposition to show that Slough being bombed would be a good thing.

The general theme of negativity towards the once peaceful Slough continues throughout the whole of the poem,
 Betjeman's loathing of Slough can be fully seen in the phrases he uses during the second and third stanza. Betjeman uses several
different metaphors to give the reader an idea of what industrialism is doing to the minds of Slough.
We can see this at the end of the second stanza. Betjeman claims that Slough is full of 'tinned minds'.
I believe that Betjeman used this metaphor to show how the people of Slough can not see past the tedious lives they are living, as
they work in a dead end day in, day out until they die.

Within the third stanza, Betjeman begins to paint a picture of a workers life. It shows us that the people of Slough go to work
every day of their lives so they can provide for their families and pay 'once a week for half a crown' so they have a house
to live in. I believe Betjeman despised this idea because it made everybody the same, people's lives were becoming conventional and mundane.
Betjeman was the only one who could see how the mass industrialism of Slough was slowly taking away the individuality of Slough.

We see a slight change of subject throughout the fourth stanza. Betjeman moves on from the generalisation of Slough
and begins to compose his thoughts on the people of Slough. Firstly, Betjeman describes 'that man with the double chin'.
Betjeman is reffering to a 'Fat Cat' banker, of which he blames for the decline of Slough. There are many powerful adjectives put in place
so the reader immediatley gains a feeling of hatred towards the 'repulsive banker'.

Betjeman then makes his hostility of the filthy misoginist evident, as he is calling upon the bombs to 'smash his hands'
and to 'make him yell'. Just from these small quotes, Betjemans disgust for the banker really becomes visible.
He does not believe that the banker deserves the amount of power or money he has.

Although it seems as though Betjeman hated Slough, he did show a little compassion towards the 'bald young
clerks' who slave away in a dull factory every day for the entireity of their miserable lives. We can
see this by the way Betjeman uses the same phrase twice, 'it's not their fault...'.
This is making the reader think that Betheman is reffering to Slough being the reason for the way their lives have turned out.

The overall form and structure of 'Slough' is very straightforward. I believe this has been done purposefully
to as it is used to reflect Slough itself. The rhyme scheme uses quatrains, as they are very conventional
and boring, which could be another link to Slough. Throughout 'Slough' you will notice that there is a lot of repetition. I believe that Betjeman
has done this to emphasise his detestation of the place. He uses 'Come friendly bombs...' both at the start and end of the poem so that he can reiterate his point.
The overall tone of the poem is dreary and very negative. Betjeman obviously hated Slough, and he is showing it, not just through the words he uses,
but through the structure and rhyme scheme aswell.

'Belfast Confetti' by Ciaran Carson is the exact opposite of 'Slough'. Although they follow the same underlying scheme of hatred and
devastation, Betjeman's poem was a metaphor, however 'Belfast Confetti' is real.
Carson's poem is about how witnessing a real explosion can put you into a deep state of shock and confusion.
The name 'Belfast Confetti' is the name given to the debris that is thrown from home made explosives. The 'confetti' is the term
given to the peices of shrapnol packed into a bomb. Things that may not seem dangerous, for example; 'nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys' are turned into
a lethal weapon made for only one purpose, to kill people.

The whole theme of the poem is based on an extended metaphor, using only punctuation to create
an image of Carson's feelings. When he witnessed the bomb explode, it brought terror on his mind and put
him into a deep state of shock. Carson is in so much shock, the only way he can describe his emotions is through
punctuation. We can see this on the first line, 'as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks'.
I believe Carson used exclamation marks to show how confused and surprised the public were as the squads moved in,
they had no clue what was going on, what to think or what to do.

Then, as the explosion goes off, Carson writes 'This hyphenated line, a burst of rapid fire...'.
I believe that Carson wrote this because it gives us a brief idea of what happened. As the explosion went off,
everything slowly became silent, thena few seconds later the sheer devastation became apparent. As people
were screaming in agony, and rushing to get away, everything became too fast for Carson to handle.

When comparing 'Belfast Confetti' with 'Slough', we can see that a lot of Betjeman's language was coming from
his imagination, although his writing is very literal and detailed the outcome of the situation comes from
his mind. This is not the case with Carson, although his writing is very metaphorical at point the horror and shock is real.

From the poem, we can really begin to see what state Carson is in. His writing has become surreal, almost as if he were losing his mind.
A good example of this is when he wrote 'I know this labyrinth so well...'. From this the reader can see that Carson is almost trapped
in a state of awe. I believe this is because as the bomb exploded it destroyed many buildings, completely changing the way Belfast looked.
Further through the poem, Carson reaches a 'Dead end again.' It seems as though Carson is lost, this could be both a physical and mental state.
Carson was not prepared for the amount of horror and panic that was the aftermath of the explosion, let alone the bomb itself.

In my opinion, the structure of 'Belfast Confetti' is very complex. It does not follow a certain scheme, and there is very little rhythm.
This fits in very well with the theme of the poem. I believe the poem has very little structure and stability, just as Carson's mind would be as the bomb exploded.
The two poems contrast each other a lot, but share several similarities. For example; although 'Slough' is a lot more structured and schematic, they both share
the same underlying themes of destruction and obliteration, using metaphors to carry across their views.

Two completely different poems, with two very similar subjects. 'Slough' is a cry for the mess of a town to be demolished, whereas
'Belfast Confetti' is a recollection of Carson's emotions as they were shattered by the blast that hit Belfast. One is a plea for violence to reign upon on a town,
the other is a prayer for the violence to stop, and bring him out of his state of confusion. From my analysis, my personal opinion is that 'Slough' overall is a better poem.
As it follows a certain structure, it enables the use underlying messages. Not only is the poem dreary, but even the title and general structure is!
This is very similar to 'Slough' in some respects, Betjeman makes his hatred towards both the people and the place very apparent.
He despises the way people are brought up as 'drones' not knowing how to feel or act. This is how Carson is feeling, he detests the fact
that he cannot control his own emotions.