Both the poems Checking Out Me History and London are challenging those in power as when misused, power can affect those beneath it in negative ways. Agard and Blake comment and explore the power of those in authoritative roles such as the government. However, Checking Out Me History is a reflection of the poet’s anger about the miseducation of his personal identity. Conversely, London displays the effect of ill-used power on the mental and physical aspects on the inhabitants of a broken and unbalanced society.
The first instance of Agard challenging those in power is the repetition of, “Dem”. The heavy repeated beat of the word conveys aggression with its angered rhythm, one that echoes on of a beaten drum. This is supported by the phonetic spelling that forces the reader to acknowledge Agard’s true identity when read aloud. This use of language could be the poet’s method of demonstrating his opposition to the education he received in his hometown colony. Further accentuated by the lack of punctuation in the poem, the poet is not willing to submit to the rules of the language the same way he does not want to submit to the whitewash of his childhood education. The fact that he grew up in a colony and not in Britain highlights the power these greater forces had over his education. By refusing to accept the restrictions imposed on him by the English language, he has not allowed his identity to be restricted and keep the musicality of the poem when read by himself. Similarly, Blake challenges those in power and everything they impose on society during 1792. This is demonstrated by the description of how, “Every black’ning church appals”. ‘Black’ning’ has connotations of evil and tainted purity which juxtaposed with the sickly pale that befalls someone when they appal. This alludes to the idea that they would not be able to exist together if the Church had upheld its duty to care for the poor. This is the poet’s method of expressing his dislike of the Church. Though he liked the Bible and its teachings, he did not support the Church and its organized religion, unwilling to support and conform to its many rules. This may also be Blake implying that the Church are exploiting those who are less fortunate due to their societal power over the livelihood of the citizens.
The criticism of unjust power over peoples’ lives continues when Agard illustrates how the education system, “Bandage up [his] eye”. This is an ironic metaphor for the blinding of vision to the truth despite the bandages having connotations of aid and healing. The ones who are wrapping are alluded to be the ones shaping his individual identities and are keeping hidden their true lineage. Similarly, the repetition of, “Charter’d” in London can be understood to have two meanings. Not only could it be a reference to the masses of land being claimed as private by the rich at the time (almost robbing the poor of their land and homes), the chartering of the river demonstrates humans attempting to force their power over nature, as though the control over citizen was not enough. However, as an act of rebuttal, the poet of ‘Checking Out Me History’ has meticulously placed the black history in italics. This not only stands out to the reader as important but the lack of a rhyme scheme in those verses demonstrates how there is no control over them or their history. One may interpret the poet’s usage of this device as a suggestion that the black historical figures are more important than non-fictional white figures which is contradictory to what the British had done.
In conclusion, there is a point where both poems diverge in their overall message. London has a cyclical structure to its poem due to it ending with yet another description of suffering. This is further supported by ‘marriage hearse’ which could allude to it being the cycle of life; the suffering of those oppressed by power is an inescapable. In stark contrast, Agard has ended his poem describing how he is going to reclaim history. There is a great emphasis placed on the ending message which is also aided by the features of the poem that are reminiscent to oral poetry. The phonetic spelling, repetition and simple beat demonstrate the usage of form to emphasize the importance of identity to the poet as there is now a message that you will be able to remember.