Memorial Norman Maccaig

Revising… BBC Bitesize is a fantastic resource to use. Will be really helpful when you are revising for the prelims and exam. http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zrphvcw

Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies. No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain but has her death in it. The silence of her dying sounds through the carousel of language, it's a web on which laughter stitches itself. How can my hand clasp another's when between them is that thick death, that intolerable distance?

She grieves for my grief She grieves for my grief. Dying, she tells me that bird dives from the sun, that fish leaps into it. No crocus is carved more gently than the way her dying shapes my mind. – But I hear, too, the other words, black words that make the sound of soundlessness, that name the nowhere she is continuously going into.

Ever since she died she can't stop dying. She makes me her elegy Ever since she died she can't stop dying. She makes me her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece, a true fiction of the ugliness of death. I am her sad music.

Task What do you think the poem is about? Select two quotes from the poem to support your answer Share your answer with your partner when completed

Breaking the poem down For each of the stanzas, answer the following questions: What is the main idea of the stanza? Are there any techniques used to explore this idea (alliteration/word choice/tone/ sentence structure etc)? What effect did the idea/technique have? Was it successful?

Structure First Stanza – Introduces subject – death of a loved one – her death is everywhere Second Stanza – Explores the impact of the experience and how it has affected him Third Stanza – Reaches the conclusion and concludes the theme of death being present everywhere

Background This poem is an elegy, a poem or song that is a lament for the dead, for a beloved person in MacCaig’s life. That person is probably MacCaig’s sister, Frances, who died in 1968 as this poem was published in 1971. MacCaig was an atheist. As such, in the face of death, there were no easy comforts for him of promises of life or resurrection beyond the grave The act of writing such a powerful, memorable and skilfully constructed poem was itself an act of literary art that in a sense raised the poet’s consciousness above the profound, melancholic state he experienced at this time.

Form and Structure Free verse - does not rhyme or follow a particular pattern Like many Maccaig poems – adopts a conversational tone Simple language – we know immediately what the poem is about The form reflects the theme of death – formlessness, loss of structure, loss of close bonds

Task Read through the poem and find an example of where Maccaig describes death What does he say about it? How is this emphasised? (word choice etc)

‘No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain’ What technique is being used here? What is the effect he is trying to create?

‘The silence of her dying sounds through the carousel of language, it's a web on which laughter stitches itself.’ Repetition Shows that the silence is lasting Uses words like ‘carousel’ and ‘laughter’ to juxtapose with the seriousness of the situation

*Hint* A good way to value the effectiveness of word choice (and many other techniques) in poetry and in close reading is to compare the original word choice with a (boring) replacement. For example: (Alliteration) ‘The silence of her dying sounds’ is much more effective than ‘The quietness of her dying...’ We miss those soft sounds that are emphasising and mimicking the silence which Maccaig refers to

‘Dying, she tells me that bird dives from the sun, that fish leaps into it.’ Maccaig reflects on the theme of nature here. The natural order has been distorted. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. Do you think he is accepting of nature?

‘She makes me her elegy.’ Her death has affected him so deeply that he himself has become her elegy. Where else in the final stanza does he explore this idea?

Critical Reading 5 Questions on the text in total... Understanding –what is happening? (Themes) Analysis – breaking it down – how does the writer do it? (word choice/imagery/sentence structure etc) Evaluate – how effective is the writer? Compare texts – what is similar/different about this poem compared to other Maccaig poems?

Themes – should have underlined an example of each Death The omnipresence of death (being everywhere) Paradox – silence and noise Nature Elegy – lament for the lost

Creating Questions – Paired Work Generate three questions regarding the poem. Create one each of the following types of questions: Summarising content – (i.e In your own words summarise the ways in which the poet …….) Theme (Identify two main ideas from stanza...) use of language (What techniques ... What effect?)

Example questions… (Create Three) Summarise what happens in verse … of the poem. (Make at least three key points.) Identify two of the main ideas or concerns from verse… Show how two examples of the poet’s use of language in verse … help to clarify or illustrate his meaning. MacCaig feels ….. about ….. Show how this is revealed through word choice. Look at verse …. What is the mood or atmosphere created by the writer and how does the writer use language effectively to create this mood or atmosphere? How effective do you find any aspect of the final two verses as a conclusion to the poem? Your answer might deal with ideas and and/or language. With close reference to the text, explain how the poet reveals his feelings towards…