Simon Armitage’s poem and Dave Whamond’s cartoon are two pieces of text that are responses to the current pandemic. They both make references to The Great Plague of the 17th Century. Under the cartoon, I investigate what brings the two forms of texts together.
Here is Simon Armitage’s poem, and below is Dave Whamond’s cartoon.
At first glance, it appears as though these two forms of texts are only related by common topics, nCovid 19, and the Plague. The cartoon was published on April 13th, 2020, and the poem was published in March 2020.
In this political cartoon, we see Donal Trump with an elongated nose, holding a ‘Beak mask’ from the 17th-century plague. The beak mask was not a real solution to the plague, that is why I think that the labeling on ‘the Trump MASK’ is so relevant. It draws parallels between the placebos of the beak mask and Trump’s words. I think that the reason his nose is so long is that it mimics Pinocchio. The more Trump lies, the longer his nose gets, and more he fills out the facade of the ‘Beak Mask’.
Moving on to the poem, the language is almost in some type of old English. In addition, there is the use of italics and also modern English. All of this suggests that the poet is trying to portray the connections between the Plague and nCovid 19. The poem is an example of desperation, love, and a situation that is doomed to fail. The poem shows a story of two ‘lovers’ separated by ‘the quarantine line’. In the line right before that, the poet mentions that they are ‘star crossed lovers’, a nod towards Shakespears Romeo and Juliette.
So what connects these two texts aside from the topics? I think that both of these texts are trying to show how, in a way, history is repeating itself. They show how the Plague has significant effects on the way the world is perceiving the current pandemic. It is important that we learn about the past, in order to help our present situation, that is why I think it is so good that the artists and writers are able to bring these aspects to the media, and our attention.
Yes, some lovely connections here, Shreya! One thing I would have considered is how the different text types function here, e.g. one is a poem so what is it capturing about this time? One is a political cartoon – how does it focus on a different aspect? What is is trying to do as a text?