Poem+Comparison

__** Where the Sidewalk Ends **__

There is a place where the sidewalk ends  And before the street begins,  And there the grass grows soft and white,  And there the sun burns crimson bright,  And there the moon-bird rests from his flight  To cool in the peppermint wind.  Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black  And the dark street winds and bends.  Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow  We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,  And watch where the chalk-white arrows go  To the place where the sidewalk ends.  Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,  And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,  For the children, they mark, and the children, they know <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00ff77; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The place where the sidewalk ends.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">**__ Sleep __**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The evening hangs beneath the moon <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> A silver thread on darkened dune <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> with closing eyes and resting head <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> i know that sleep is coming soon

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Upon my pillow, safe in bed <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> a thousand pictures fill my head <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> I cannot sleep my minds a flight <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> And yet my limbs seem made of lead

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> If there are noises in the night <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> A frightening shadow, flickering light <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Then I surrender unto sleep

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Where clouds of dreams give second sight

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> What dreams may come both dark and deep

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Of flying wings and soaring leap

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> As I surrender unto sleep <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff8400; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> As I surrender unto sleep

The poems "Sleep" and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" differ greatly in structure. "Sleep" is divided into different stanzas, while "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is in one continuous block of writing. Both poems have rhyming schemes. These poems differ in their rhyming schemes because each stanza of the poem "Sleep" follows an AABA rhyming pattern while "Where the Sidewalk Ends does not follow a specific pattern. The two seem very different in the way that "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is far less structured than "Sleep."

The themes of these two poems are in many ways opposites, but have some similarities as well. The poem "Sleep" is about the end of life, surrendering to death and going into the afterlife. "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is about the beginning of life, imagination and the imaginary world of children that they so often escape to. In this sense the two are complete opposites, one about death and the end of life, and the other about the beginning of life and the imagination and light of children. The tone of "Sleep" is quite solemn and serious, while the other poem is lighthearted, and carefree just like a child. I believe the two do have at least one similarity though. Both poems involve escape, one escape from negativity through death, the other escape through imagination.

Both these poems are abundant with literary devices and they share many of them. Some of the literary devices used in "Sleep" are repetition, rhythm and rhyme, metaphor, euphemism, hyperbole and personification. Literary devices used in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" are repetition, rhythm and rhyme, metaphor and possibly some symbolism. The two poems share repetition, rhythm and rhyme, and metaphor. Repetition is shown in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" because the lines "the place where the sidewalk ends" and "we will walk with a walk that is measured and slow" are repeated. It is shown in the poem "Sleep" because the line "I will surrender unto sleep" is repeated. Both poems show rhyming schemes, although the one in "Sleep" is far more structured than the one in "Where the Sidewalk Ends." A metaphor in "Sleep" is "And yet my limbs seem made of lead" and one in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" is "asphalt flowers." The three devices that are unique to "Sleep" are euphemism, hyperbole and personification. The whole poem is a kind of euphemism because "sleep" really refers to death or dying. It shows hyperbole in the line "a thousand pictures fill my head" and shows personification in the lines "The evening hangs beneath the moon" and "I cannot sleep my minds a flight."