CONTENTS 1. Homework Instructions 2. Slate example of an annotated poem 3. In The Snack Bar 4. Trio 5. Hyena 6. Winter 7. Good Friday Edwin Morgan
Homework Instructions You should have a printed version of all 6 Edwin Morgan poems ( Slate, In the Snack- Bar, Trio, Hyena Winter and Good Friday ). You do not need to print this whole booklet if you do not want to you can refer to it on the computer instead. In this booklet, each poem will be accompanied by a series of questions which will help you to annotate your copies of the poems. However, the most important thing that you should be able to identify in all of the poems is: Who (who is speaking? What do we learn about them?) What (you should be able to summarise what the poem is about/what happens in the poem) Where (identify the setting of the poem) The tasks on the first poem, Slate, have been completed for you as an example. These annotations have been done in a lot of detail. Your teacher will not be looking for the same level of detail across all of the poems, but you need to try and answer all of the questions in order to gain a better understanding of Morgan s poetry. If you are struggling with any of the questions, you should go to the following websites to find out more about the poems: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/learn/teachers/classroom-resources http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zcnp34j Before you get started on Edwin Morgan s poems, you should complete the Biography Task so that you can find out a bit about who he is and what influenced his work. Task One: Biography Task Edwin Morgan Research: You should go online or to your local library to try and find out what you can about Edwin Morgan s life and poetry.
SLATE There is no beginning. We saw Lewis laid down, where there was not much but thunder and volcanic fires; watched long seas plunder faults; laughed as Staffa cooled. Drumlins blue as bruises were grated off like nutmegs; bens, and a great glen, gave rough back we like to the think the ages must streak, surely strike, seldom stroke, but raised and shaken, with tens of thousands of rains, blizzards, sea-poundings shouldered off into night and memory. Memory of men! That was to come. Great in their empty hunger these surroundings threw walls to the sky, the sorry glory of a rainbow. Their heels kicked flint, chalk, slate. Information about the poem: STAFFA: Staffa a small island off the West Coast of Scotland. It is made up entirely of volcanic material mainly basalt. Its famous feature is Fingal s Cave. DRUMLINS: Mounds of moraine (rocks, sand, gravel etc. transported in glaciers) moulded by a glacier. GREAT GLEN: This is a fault line (a break in the crust) running from Fort William to Inverness. It was formed when the northern section collided with the southern section. Minor earthquakes (tremors) still occur along the fault line but they are rarely felt.
Slate is a poem from a collection called Sonnets from Scotland which Morgan published in 1984. This series of poems was written after an important time in Scotland s history the Scottish Referendum of 1979. The outcome of this referendum was that although a majority of people had voted for devolution, this majority was not deemed large enough to enact the legislation, and politically the country was at a low ebb. The sonnets were written as a response to this disappointing blow for Scotland and in them Morgan considers the enormous changes that have already affected Scotland through the millennia as well as imagining those which have yet to come. Slate is the first poem in this collection and the opening lines introduce the idea of change. In it, the speaker depicts this land we know as Scotland in its formative years, millions of years before the arrival of humans and describes how this prehistoric landscape developed and was shaped. Guided Annotation Questions: Slate has been annotated for you as an example. Here are the questions used to help inform the annotations. Here are some questions to help to guide you through annotating the poem: First reading What is the poem about? What are the places mentioned in the poem? Why do you think the poet has mentioned them? POETIC TERM: The Sonnet Form A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, traditionally written in iambic pentameter that is, in lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable, as in: Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Annotate the poem with a rhyme scheme What do you notice about the poems structure? Look at the length of the lines in the poem? How do they vary? What is significant about the way the poem is opened by Morgan?
Who is talking? In Slate, by Edwin Morgan, we are given the idea that the poem has a voice. Who do you think is talking to us in the poem? We saw Lewis.. What is the voice in the poem discussing? Use the arrows below to annotate these sections of the poem Ask yourself, what is the poet discussing here? watched as Staffa cooled. Drumlins blue as bruises were grated off like nutmegs; bens, And a great glen, gave a rough back we like Memory of men! That was to come : What is the importance of this quotation? What type of Scotland is Morgan describing to us?
SLATE These words are in present tense while everything else is in past tense. Morgan is trying to make Scotland seem eternal. The speaking voice is outside history, looking in. There is no beginning. We saw Lewis laid down, where there was not much but thunder and volcanic fires; watched long seas plunder faults; laughed as Staffa cooled. Drumlins blue as Morgan personifies Scotland itself, giving it human actions. He also embodies Scotland, giving it a living body, so that it is not just a chunk of geology. All this use of embodiment and personification supports Morgan s overall theme. He is saying that even without people, Scotland is alive and vibrant, full of energy and purpose. bruises were grated off like nutmegs; bens, and a great glen, gave rough back we like to the think the ages must streak, surely strike, seldom stroke, but raised and shaken, with tens of thousands of rains, blizzards, sea-poundings All these sound effects draw our attention, and also give us a sensory experience: we don t just read the poem with our eyes but also almost hear it. This has the effect of making us feel more involved in the poem. The sound effects support Morgan s overall message about the vital importance of Scotland by making it feel lively, vibrant and noisy, and by making Scotland feel like something we just have to pay attention to. shouldered off into night and memory. Memory of men! That was to come. Great in their empty hunger these surroundings threw walls to the sky, the sorry glory of a rainbow. Their heels kicked flint, chalk, slate The newly created Scotland is empty and hungry without us. A nation isn t really made by geology; a nation is made by its people and by what they do. A rainbow is a glorious and hopeful thing, but a sorry one too because you only get a rainbow with rain. Morgan uses the metaphor of the rainbow to admit that the hope of a more independent future for Scotland comes after the failed referendum The expression to kick your heels means to be waiting, perhaps impatiently. Scotland is still waiting for a better future. Although this is the title of the poem, it only appears in the actual text as the final word. Sometimes things only come together at the last minute; it may take a long time for Scotland s destiny to be fulfilled. Rhyme Scheme: Slate as a sonnet: Every line has exactly 10 syllables. There is a rhyme scheme: ABBA CDDC EFG EFG
IN THE SNACK BAR A cup capsizes along the formica, slithering with a dull clatter. A few heads turn in the crowded evening snack-bar. An old man is trying to get to his feet from the low round stool fixed to the floor. Slowly he levers himself up, his hands have no power. He is up as far as he can get. The dismal hump looming over him forces his head down. He stands in his stained beltless garberdine like a monstrous animal caught in a tent in some story. He sways slightly, the face not seen, bent down Vocabulary: Formica: a hard durable plastic laminate used for worktops, cupboard doors, and other surfaces. Garberdine: a raincoat made of durable material. in shadow under his cap. Even on his feet he is staring at the floor or would be, if he could see. I notice now his stick, once painted white but scuffed and muddy, hanging from his right arm. Long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed he stands fumbling with the stick and speaks: I want to go to the-toilet. It is down two flights of stairs, but we go. I take his arm. Give me-your arm-it s better, he says. Inch by inch we drift towards the stairs.
A few yards of floor are like a landscape to be negotiated, in the slow setting out time has almost stopped. I concentrate my life to his: crunch of spilt sugar, slidy puddle from the night s umbrellas, table edges, people s feet, hiss of the coffee-machine, voices and laughter, smell of a cigar, hamburgers, wet coats steaming, and the slow dangerous inches to the stairs. I put his right hand on the rail and take his stick. He clings to me. The stick is in his left hand, probing the treads I guide his arm and tell him the steps. And slowly we go down. And slowly we go down. White tiles and mirrors at last. He shambles uncouth into the clinical gleam. I set him in position, stand behind him and wait with his stick. His brooding reflection darkens the mirror but the trickle of his water is thin and slow, an old man s apology for living. Painful ages to close his trousers and coat I do up the last buttons for him. He asks doubtfully, Can I- wash my hands? I fill the basin, clasp his soft fingers round the soap. He washes, feebly, patiently. There is no towel. I press the pedal of the drier, draw his hands gently into the roar of the hot air.
But he cannot rub them together, drags out a handkerchief to finish. He is glad to leave the contraption, and face the stairs. He climbs, and steadily enough. He climbs, we climb. He climbs with many pauses but with that one persisting patience of the undefeated which is the nature of man when all is said. And slowly we go up. And slowly we go up. The faltering, unfaltering steps take him at last to the door across that endless, yet not endless waste of floor. I watch him helped on a bus. It shudders off in the rain. The conductor bends to hear where he wants to go. Wherever he could go it would be dark and yet he must trust men. Without embarrassment or shame he must announce his most pitiful needs in a public place. No one sees his face. Does he know how frightening he is in his strangeness under his mountainous coat, his hands like wet leaves stuck to the half-white stick? His life depends on many who would evade him. But he cannot reckon up the chances, having one thing to do, to haul his blind hump through these rains of August. Dear Christ, to be born for this!
In the Snack-Bar Questions FIRST READING Read through the poem carefully and think about what Edwin Morgan is trying to get you to think about. In no more than 20 words summarise what you think the poem is about and what Edwin Morgan is trying to get us to think about. You should now work to annotate your poem. The following tasks will help you to do this: Task 1: Sound Techniques- Using a red coloured pen, go through the poem and highlight any examples of the following: Alliteration - The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words Onomatopoeia- The use of words (such as hiss or murmur) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Task 2: Characterisation Edwin Morgan gives us a vivid description of the old man in the poem. He achieves this through imagery and clever use of language. Pick out and highlight the quotations that tell us about the appearance of the man in the poem. Annotate your poem with what impression each of your highlight descriptions creates. Task 3: Structure Annotate answers to the following on your poem: Look at the structure of the poem when the two men are climbing. What does it add to the length and struggle felt by both men in the poem? There are many examples of repetition throughout the poem. Highlight each instance of repetition and think about what they add to the monotonous and hard task that is ahead of both of the men in the poem.
TRIO Coming up Buchanan Street, quickly, on a sharp winter evening a young man and two girls, under the Christmas lights- The young man carries a new guitar in his arms, 5 the girl on the inside carries a very young baby, and the girl on the outside carries a Chihuahua. And the three of them are laughing, their breath rises in a cloud of happiness, and as they pass the boy says, Wait till he sees this but! The chihuhua has a tiny Royal Stewart tartan coat like a tea pot-holder, 10 the baby in its white shawl it all bright eyes and mouth like favours in a fresh sweet cakes, the guitar swells out under its milky plastic cover, tied at the neck with silver tinsel tape and a brisk sprig of mistletoe. Orphean sprig! Melting baby! Warm Chihuahua! The vale of tears is powerless before you. Whether Christ is born, or is not born, you 15 put paid to fate, it abdicates under the Christmas lights. Monsters of the year go blank, are scattered back, can t bear this march of three. 20 -And the three have passed, vanished in the crowd (yet not vanished, for their arms they wind the life of men and beasts, and music, laughter ringing them round like a guard) at the end of this winter s day.
Trio Questions Task 1: First Reading What do you think the poem is about? Where is the poem set? What time of year is the poem set in? Highlight a quotation that shows how the poet establishes where the poem is set. What do you think is significant about the title of the poem? (Think about the Christmas story can you think of any trios?) Task 2: Characters Annotate answers to the following on the poem Who are the central characters in the poem? Highlight what the central characters are carrying. Can you think of anything significant about their number, what they are carrying, or the Christmas lights? Task 3: Structure Highlight the instances of repetition in the poem. Can you think about what effect this repetition creates? Look at the line layout (the way the lines appear on the page). What is unusual about Morgan s line layout? Can you suggest any reasons for this? Task 4: Overview Edwin Morgan seems to present an unusual view of Christmas in this poem. In what way do you think it is unusual?
HYENA I am waiting for you. I have been travelling all morning through the bush And not eaten. I am lying at the edge of the bush On a dusty path that leads from the burnt-out kraal. I am panting, it is midday, I found no water-hole. I am very fierce without food and although my eyes Are screwed to slits against the sun You must believe I am prepared to spring. What do you think of me? I have a rough coat like Africa. I am crafty with dark spots Like the bush-tufted plains of Africa. I sprawl as a shaggy bundle of gathered energy Like Africa sprawling in its waters. I trot, I lope, I slaver, I am a ranger. Vocabulary Kraal: a traditional African village consisting of a group of huts surrounded by a fence. Veldt: An open area of grassland Carrion: the decaying flesh of dead animals. I hunch my shoulders. I eat the dead. Do you like my song? When the moon pours hard and cold on the veldt* I sing, and I am the slave of darkness. Over the stone walls and the mud walls and the ruined places And the owls, the moonlight falls. I sniff a broken drum. I bristle. My pelt is silver. I howl my song to the moon- up it goes. Would you meet me there in the waste places?
It is said I am a good match For a dead lion. I put my muzzle At his golden flanks, and tear. He Is my golden supper, but my tastes are easy. I have a crowd of fangs, and I use them. Oh and my tongue- do you like me When it comes lolling out over my jaw Very long, and I am laughing? I am not laughing. But I am not snarling either, only Panting in the sun, showing you What I grip carrion with. I am waiting For the foot to slide, For the heart to seize, For the leaping sinews to go slack, For the fight to the death to be fought to the death, For a glazing eye and a rumour of blood. I am crouching in my dry shadows Till you are ready for me. My place is to pick you clean And leave your bones to the wind.
Hyena Questions Meet the narrator: The spotted hyena is a common dog like carnivore found on the dry open plains of the Masai Mara and much of sub Saharan Africa. Dark spots cover yellow brown fur and their long muscular necks and powerful shoulders make them instantly recognisable. Hyenas are built for endurance their large hearts help them pursue prey over great distances. The plains of the Mara echo with the squeals and greeting whoops of this much maligned animal. Their infamous 'laughter' is actually a sign of aggression, fear or excitement. Hear and see our wild hyena clan from the comfort of your own home, streamed live from the wilds of Africa Task 1: First Reading Who is the speaker in this poem? Identify what each stanza (5 in total) is about and annotate on your poem. For example, the first stanza describes the hyena s habitat the dry and inhospitable plains of Africa. Task 2: Character Highlight quotations which describe the hyena s appearance. What impression is created of the hyena? Highlight quotations which describe the hyena s behaviour. What impression is created of the hyena? Task 3: Imagery This poem is rich with imagery. Highlight any similes or metaphors that you can find and explain what they add to the poem. Task Four: Structure Why has Edwin Morgan used questions throughout his poem? What purpose do they serve? What does each individual question force you to think about?
WINTER The year goes, the woods decay, and after, many a summer dies. The swan on Bingham s pond, a ghost, comes and goes. It goes, and ice appears, it holds, bears gulls that stand around surprised, blinking in the heavy light, bears boys when skates take over swan-tracks gone. After many summer dyes, the swan-white ice glints only crystal beyond white. Even dearest blue s not there, though poets would find it. I find one stark scene cut by evening cries, by warring air. The muffled hiss of blades escapes into breath, hangs with it a moment, fades off. Fades off, goes, the scene, the voices fade, the line of trees, the woods that fall, decay and break, the dark comes down, the shouts run off into it and disappear. At last the lamps go too, when fog drives monstrous down the dual carriageway out to the west, and even in my room and on this paper I do not know about the grey dead pane of ice that sees nothing and that nothing sees.
Winter Questions Task 1: First reading What line in the opening of the poem tells us that this poem is about the changing of the seasons? What metaphor does Morgan use to describe the swan? Highlight it on the poem and say why it is effective. Highlight how many objects the winter ice bears. Task 2: Structure There are several examples of repetition in the poem. Go through the poem with a red pen or pencil and underline the examples you can find. Say what effect you think the use of repetition has. Task 3: Imagery Annotate the poem highlighting all similes, metaphors and examples of personification in blue. Explain why the images are effective. Task Four: Overview Can you identify any deeper meanings that the poem might have? Look at the words that have been repeated throughout the poem to help give you a clue.
GOOD FRIDAY Three o clock. The bus lurches round into the sun. D s this go he flops beside me right along Bath Street? -Oh tha s, tha s all right, see I ve got to get some Easter eggs for the kiddies. I ve had a wee drink, ye understand ye ll maybe think it s a funny day to be celebrating well, no, but ye see I wasny working, and I like to celebrate when I m no working I don t say it s right I m no saying it s right ye understand ye understand? but anyway tha s the way I look at it I m no boring you, eh? ye see today, take today, I don t know what today s in aid of, whether Christ was crucified or was he rose fae the dead like, see what I mean? You re an educatit man, you can tell me -Aye, well. There you are. It s been seen time and again, the working man has nae education, he jist canny jist hasny got it, know what I mean, he s jist bliddy ignorant Christ aye, bliddy ignorant. Well The bus brakes violently, he lunges for the stair, swings down off, into the sun for his Easter eggs, on very nearly steady legs.
Good Friday Questions Task 1: What is Good Friday? Do some research online and make notes about Good Friday : Task 2: First Reading In short, what is the poem about? What do you notice about the way you are forced to read the poem? Where is the poem set? How do we know this? What tense is the poem written in? Task 3: The Narrator What is the narrative stance of the poem? o first person o second person o third person Who is the narrator in the poem? o Find a quotation that will support your answer Task 4: Structure What is the majority of the poem made up from? What do you notice about the physical shape of Morgan s poem as it develops? Why has Edwin Morgan done this? What effect does it have on the meaning of the poem? What does the shape add to the way the man gets off the bus? Task 5: Character - The man on the bus Where is he going? What is he doing? What is he discussing? What has he bought?