IndexIntroductionAnalysis of WorksWorks CitedIntroductionPeople have moments when they forget things, then remember specific moments in life that make you wonder. Memory is essential to one's mental state, it could be a bad memory or a good one. The poems that will be discussed throughout the article are “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins and “Incident” by Countee Cullen, both are notable writings with significant meanings. Both poems contain literary devices such as metaphors, diction, similes, imagery, personification, and these devices push the poem to become very challenging, yet somewhat clear for the reader in understanding the poem. In both poems they discuss the fact that memory is precious, that it comes with terrible consequences that cannot be recovered or forgotten. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Analysis of Works Memory can have harmful effects that ignite emotions that overwhelm a person. In “Forgetfulness,” the poem has several lines that make the listener feel bad for the speaker in the poem, which in this case is Collins himself. “Whatever you are struggling to remember, / is not poised on the tip of your tongue /​or even lurking in some dark corner of your spleen.​,” Collins is creating metaphors by comparing memorization to speaking when a person is in difficulty. -tied, but then the memories might resurface out of nowhere. The reader wonders why Collins decided to use such diction throughout the poem. Words like “poised,” “tip,” “struggling,” and “spleen” make the lines stand out to the reader. The reader wonders how Collins goes from tongue to spleen, two different body systems, different functions. The imagery throughout the lines also makes the poem understand the clear message the speaker is trying to give about memory loss. While in the poem "Incident", Countee does not use metaphors or similes in his poem. However, Cullen uses diction as Collins did in his poem "Forgetfulness", but in the form of narration in "Incident". Cullen frames the poem so that it is a story with a happy ending: "Once I rode through old Baltimore, / Full of heart, full of joy, / I saw a Baltimorean / Keep looking me straight in the eye." The poem begins with “Once,” then takes the timeline back to the past. It gives the reader a certain sense that makes it a bit of a fairy tale, which in this case it isn't. There are events that remain imprinted on a person forever, no matter how hard a person tries to forget or overcome them. In “Incident,” Cullen travels back to his childhood memories and recalls a catastrophic memory that will never leave his memory. Cullen discusses the effects of the event that changed his childhood summer at age eight: “I saw all of Baltimore/from May to December;/of all the things that happened there/that's all I remember ". The moment that had marked Cullen at a young age had not made him forget all summer all the things he could have done. His memory has never been able to free itself from it and counteract it with better memories of the summer like a normal child would. In contrast to Collins' poem who was able to forget memories essential to the person, "Long ago you kissed goodbye to the names of the nine muses/and I watched the quadratic equation pack up,/and even now you're memorizing the order of the planets.” Collins talks about simple things in this verse such as the nine muses (Greek mythology), the quadratic equation and the solar system,. 587.