Same Artist, Different Pictures
The way artists can look at a scene in numerous various lights is really similar to what Earle Birney did when he wrote “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” and “Vancouver Lights”. An artist can paint a picture of a given setting and then return and paint a totally different painting of the same topic. The 2 poems share similarities however where the description of “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” ends, the style for “Vancouver Lights” begins. The two poems based on the very same setting develop totally various concepts in the readers mind.
Evidently, Birney’s poems both include extremely effective descriptions, however the two descriptions have different results on the reader. “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” beautifully explains exactly the title of the poem. However, the poem missing out on meat or substance, does not need the reader to examine it in any method. In contrast, the very first paragraph of “Vancouver Lights” is also a description, but this just sets the tone and enables the reader to get a sensation of the poems future.
Birneys wants the reader to think of mankind’s insignificance and that mankind can create and damage itself in “Vancouver Lights” where as “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” needs little analyses, therefore drawing out the style appears difficult since of its simplicity.
When Birney writes, “These Rays were ours / we made and unmade them Not the shudder of continents / doused us the moon’s passion nor the crash of comets” ( Earle Birney, Vancouver Lights) he acknowledges the fact that mankind are creators and destroyers, but in “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” the reader can not find a phrase that has a deeper meaning. Also, “Vancouver Lights” has numerous references to ancient symbols such as: Phoebus, Nubian, Prometheus, Nebulae and Aldebaran.
This puts “Vancouver Lights” on a different level from “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” because it requires the reader to have some pre-conceived knowledge to understand the theme and meaning of the poem. The simplicity in “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” and complexity of “Vancouver Lights” makes similarities of the two difficult to uncover, yet the reader can see a direct link between the two because of the setting.
These two poems paint completely contrasting pictures because “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” only describes while ” Vancouver Lights” requires previous knowledge and in-depth thinking to unlock the theme. The simplicity of “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” creates detailed images but Birney leaves little to the readers’ imagination. On the other hand, “Vancouver Lights” about the same setting, forces the reader to think and discover the theme on their own. Like an artist can paint different pictures of the same subject, Birney accomplishes this in his poems, “January Morning/Downtown Vancouver” and “Vancouver Lights”.
