In Skirrid Hill, Owen Sheers explores many themes, one of which is undoubtedly manhood. Throughout the collection, it often focuses on adolescence and the discovery of one's power as an individual. In this way, it seems clear that Sheers is a poet who explores exactly what it feels like to be a man. Despite this, many of Sheers' poems do not focus exclusively on how it feels to be a man, as he explores many traditionally non-masculine themes, including nature, for example in the poem "The Swallows" . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned'?Get the original essayThe poem 'Hedge School' investigates Sheers' awareness as a child of his own power as a man , particularly the potential for violence he felt as he entered adulthood. The title of the poem refers to Sheers' roots in Ireland, as "hedge schools" were institutions of informal education. By having the content of the poem about real mulberry trees, Sheers seems to suggest that his own education was actually gained from the natural world and his experiences outside of school. The poem's epigraph refers to a story of wickedness and violence, which presents it as the predominant theme of the poem. This narrative tactic returns to the theme of manhood, as the boy in the poem goes through adolescence and realizes that he is capable of such violence. The first stanza explores the boy's growing freedom as he moves from childhood to adulthood. He describes: "The walk home from school grew longer / these first weeks of September", in which the use of enjambment emphasizes his message that his journey home is prolonged, as the child explores his freedom. This stanza also establishes the main theme of the poem, "picking blackberries", which is initially presented as an innocent image of childhood. Then the second stanza really reflects Sheers' feelings about being a man and the power that comes with it. Sheers uses vivid imagery to describe how the boy tastes blackberries, calling them "nervous hearted" and "cobwebbed and dusty as a Claret", in which the use of simile shows how tastes become refined into adulthood. In this poem, it seems that the boy is reluctant to transition into adulthood and views it as unattractive through these descriptions. Sheers presents his view of what it feels like to be a man, primarily in the last stanza, which is significantly longer than the first three and reflects the development and growth of the boy in this poem. This stanza uses more violent and sinister language, such as "close my palm into a fist", which suggests that violence is at the heart of being a man. His use of similes ("the knuckles are scratched and my blue-black hand red, as bloody as a butcher's or a farmer's at lambing") creates dark images and introduces an awareness of life and death, perhaps as a boy would realize as he grew up. adolescence. The last line of the poem reinforces Sheers' true message of identity and manhood in the poem, "a boy discovering for the very first time how dark he is inside." This presents the idea of ​​the boy discovering his power and desires as a man, and how these lessons he learned through nature itself. This idea is introduced early in the poem, when Sheers suggests, "Another lesson perhaps, this choice of how to take them," emphasizing theoptions available to a young boy as he becomes a man, and how he might discover this set of options. “Hedge School” has few traces of rhyme and is written in irregular stanzas; this form of free verse allows the reader to have more details and a deeper insight into what Sheers is actually saying. In this way, it is clear that Sheers is trying to create a poem structured almost like a chain of thoughts, as a young boy explores his own choices in his transition to manhood. In the collection, the poem sits among other poems about growing up, family, and nature. It is a momentary reflection on a darker turn in childhood, among more sentimental poems such as “Farther” and “Trees.” “Joseph Jones” is another poem that clearly explores what it feels like to be a man. The poem is intentionally titled with names known to be common, which suggests that Sheers is trying to present a stereotype of what a man should be. The use of alliteration in the name almost brings a comic sense to the poem, which reinforces the stereotype since the poem very clearly begins with the portrait of a typical "boy", an image often seen with humor. The poem opens with a feeling of nostalgia ("Of course I remember Joseph") and then describes what the man looked like ("Fifty push-ups before a party, hair shiny with gel...") who introduces the character as macho and overconfident. This description also sets the tone of the poem as conversational, perhaps to represent how casually Joseph liked to present himself, despite the effort he actually put into his appearance. These descriptions suggest that Sheers is presenting his view of what it feels like to be a younger man, a view more concerned with how others perceive him. The speaker remembers Joseph bragging about his sexual exploits, a traditionally very vocal thing: “He told us all how he got his red wings. This vulgarity suggests that Sheers is presenting how society often conditions men to be derogatory towards women. This idea continues in the stanza with descriptions of the girl that concern only her clothing rather than articulating or embodying anything of substance: "Her skirt", "white tights worn over high heels" . Sheers goes on to show the reader that despite Joseph Jones' delusion, in reality he had done little for himself. He describes it as a "small-town myth" that seems to downplay everything that has been said so far about Joseph, illustrating the idea that his confidence is just an illusion. In the final stanza, Sheers uses a listing technique to show how much Joseph has accomplished: "XR2, night fights, trial once." The layout of this stanza makes the lines particularly short compared to previous stanzas, describing the empty space in Joseph's life. He ends the poem on a melancholic note, suggesting a lack of substance in the character. This shows that Sheers is presenting exactly what it feels like to be a man, because this idea of ​​a typical macho man cannot be lived and will probably not end in a very fulfilling life. "Joseph Jones" is, in fact, positioned in the collection immediately after "Hedge School", suggesting that Sheers is presenting the reader with a transition from childhood to awareness of his power as a man, until to virility presented as essentially disappointing; despite what it may look like on the surface. This poem clearly shows that Sheers is exploring exactly what it feels like to be a man. On the other hand, in the poem "Swallows", rather than exploring what it feels like to be a man,’.