"Drowning" Versus "The Trap": Perspectives on Similar Events in Poetry and Prose Natasha Borden College

The poem, by Sid Marty, titled "Drowning", and the third chapter, titled "The Trap", in his novel Men for the Mountains, both deal with the same event of a man drowning; however, they each come at it in different ways borne of necessity from the differing structures and restrictions of the respective genres. A poem is limited by the amount of detail and information that it can convey. Instead of using volumes of words, poetry layers carefully selected scenes and specific diction, uses the repetition of words and sounds, and employs subtle shifts in perspective, to create a narrative that has emotional depth and speaks on many levels. The poem "Drowning" stays in the present moment, with all the action taking place over about a thirty-minute time span, and keeps its spotlight primarily on the event of the drowning. Fast-paced and impressionistic, it moves from moment to moment in bursts of images and in chronological time. Whereas the poem places its emphasis on the present and narrows its focus to one singular event, the novel is able to expand an event placing it in a wider context. The sheer volume of materials which can be worked with means that the author is able to freely draw from many timelines as well as points of view....