Poetic liturature consists of many techniques and styles which are used to express the Poets creative ability, but can also be used to send an underlying concern. Carrion Comfort has expressed not only the poets, Gerald Manely Hopkins raw talent with words, but also addresses and challenges a struggle that most people have or will face.
All people in life struggle with the concept of religion. The belief of a higher God is especially difficult to deal with when confronted with hardship and stressors of everyday life. This can quickly challenge a persons relationship with God which can result in conflict. The questions that is constantly asked "if there is a God, why would he let me endure pain and suffering?".
The above theme is vividly portrayed, from the intitical melee (confusion) and anguish felt by the questioning believer (narrator). .
Hopkins engages the reader firstly with his oxymoron/ alliterated Title, "carrion comfort", which is essential for understanding the emotion of the narrator towards his challenge (God). Carrion and comfort placed next to each other seem contracting. Carrion being rotten/dead flesh (vultures food) and comfort being consoled. .
In the first lines of the poem the narrators emotions are clearly expressed, this is done through tone, the mood created, imagry, emotive language and repetiton.
Firstly a negative, depressing, hopeless tone is created firstly throught the repetition on the word "not". "not" is repeted four time in three lines which gives the reader a sence of denial or negativity- thus contributing to the creation of the mood. .
Imagry is also used to convey the challenge to the audience by using an analogy , which also involves the title. The narrator refers to himself as the carrion (vulture food) and the tormentor/God as the Vulture. .
The line " Not feast on thee" refers to the saying "Satisfaction of giving into despair as a kind of 'comfort' is like a vulture's satisfaction in feasting on dead flesh" .
