1. Basking Shark By
Norman MacCaig

2. Overview
The poem tells of the poet's unexpected encounter with a shark; the meeting causes MacCaig to think about the process of evolution and his position in that process.

3. Stanza One
This stanza provides a dramatic opening to the poem. The first two lines start with the infinitive of the verb("To stub", "To have" ).
This unusual sentence structure captures our attention immediately.
The word "stub" suggests that the boat's oar has hit on something solid, something that refuses to give even a little.
We learn that the poet has disturbed a basking shark, which is compared to a rock. From this metaphor, we are led to assume that the shark, like a rock, is bulky, solid, without feeling and, perhaps, without intelligence.
"To have it rise" tells us that the shark is in charge of the meeting; it is the shark that is carrying out the actions whereas the poet has no choice in what is happening to him.
The word "slounge"is onomatopoeic as it suggests the noise of the waves as the shark leaves the water. It is also a clumsy word, again reminding us of the bulk of the shark.

4. Stanza One
In this first stanza, the poet seems to have been frightened by the encounter, saying that meeting the shark:
"Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me"
He has not relished the encounter at all but the brackets indicate a slightly humorous aside: the poet was scared but is trying to make light of it now.

5. Stanza Two
The opening line of this stanza "But not too often - though enough" is initially puzzling: it seems to contradict what he has said in Stanza One.
In Stanza Two he seems to say that once wasn't too much, although by the use of the dash he indicates that he is in no rush to meet the shark again.
Having had time to think about the incident, the poet seems to think he has learned something from the meeting. So important is this meeting to him that he claims "I count as gain" the experience.
He goes on to explain what he has learned in the rest of the poem. In line 5 the poet uses the word "met" : the element of shock has gone and it now sounds almost as if the meeting has be prearranged between equals.

6. Stanza Two
The image "on a sea tin-tacked with rain" is a powerful one.
The fact that it is raining at all ties in with the murkiness of the "slime" the poet will later refer to in Stanza 4.
Moreover, the phrase "tin-tacked" provides both visual and aural imagery.
Water isn't solid but we can see the the surface of the water as it is pierced by the raindrops like tacks in a wall.
The alliteration of "tin-tacked" also reminds us of the noise the raindrops will be making.

7. Stanza Two
Finally in this stanza, MacCaig describes the shark as: "That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain“
The word "roomsized" emphasises the sheer size and bulk of the shark.
The word "monster" also places the shark very low down in the evolutionary scale; it is reminiscent of dinosaurs which existed millions of years ago.
All this serves to demonstate how basic and underdeveloped the shark is; an idea continued by "matchbox brain". For all his size, the shark has little intelligence.
Again this could remind the reader of huge dinosaurs with tiny brains. At this point the poet seems to believe he is much higher in the evolutionary scale than the shark.

8. Stanza Three "He displaced more than water"
The shark's movements have caused the water to move violently, shifting the poet and his boat from their original position. However, the poet is also saying that the shark has caused him to question his position in the evolutionary process.
Before meeting the shark, the poet seems to be quite content with his place in the order of things but now he is removed from that position, forced to reassess his views.
The word "displaced" could also suggest the poet's discomfort at being forced to think that he might be nearer the shark on the ladder of evolution than he likes to acknowledge.

9. Stanza Three
Again, in this stanza, the shark is carrying out the actions, while the poet has no control: "he shoggled me//Centuries back - this decadent townee// Shook on the wrong branch of his family tree“
The word "shoggled" sounds clumsy, as if the poet is being moved around fairly violently in an ungainly movement over which he has no control.
The enjambement of the lines draws our attention to the word "Centuries", emphasising how long it took humans to evolve but the poet is travelling quickly back in his mind.
A "townee" is someone who lives in the town but the word also suggests that such people choose to live in the town; they chose to live away from nature (their "roots"?) because they prefer it that way.
The word "decadent" suggests someone who has no worthwhile purpose to their life, but lives only for luxury and enjoyment.

10. Stanza Three
This is a far cry from our origins when man's only concern was to find food and shelter enough to survive: early man had no time for luxury or enjoyment. Now, the poet finds himself literally shaken by the shark.
When we think about "family trees" we think about discovering our ancestors, the people we have genetic links to. Here, MacCaig is reminding us that the shark too, is part of our "family tree", that we are related to all of nature in the process of evolution.
The shark is described as being a "wrong branch" - perhaps a branch that the poet doesn't want to admit exists.

11. Stanza Four
"Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring // Is all the cleaner“
The word "swish" here is onomatopoeic as it suggests the noise of moving water. Once the swirling has stopped, we can see the spring of water more clearly from the dust having settled.
In this image, the poet is comparing his encounter with the shark to the spring once the dust has settled. Suddenly, he sees his position in evolution much more clearly.
One "fling" from the shark makes him understand that his origins are shared with the shark, as well as all other living creatures.
The word "emerging" in the final lines suggests the idea of growing, of coming from darkness to light. Like the shark, the poet has emerged from "the slime of everything"- the word "slime"emphasises the baseness of our beginnings whereas the word "everything" shows how indistinct humans were from other species at the beginning of the evolutionary process.

12. Stanza Five
This stanza begins with the question "So who's the monster?"
At the beginning of the poem, the poet is almost insulting to the shark, dismissing it as a brainless monster.
However, now he is not so sure of himself, not so confident that he is the superior being.
Now he questions himself. Is he a monster, an intelligent being who has failed to use that intelligence usefully. Despite the fact that he appears so much more advanced than the shark, is he really any more useful?
This failure to use his intelligence is further highlighted when we realise that the poet only thinks about the question he has asked for twenty seconds. Is his attention span really that much longer than that of the shark?

13. Stanza Five
Moreover, our view of the shark has also changed: the clumsy, bulky creature of the first stanza has been replaced by an elegant, graceful shark, which the poet compares to a ship sailing away.
Just as the poet has seen himself in a new light, he has also had to think about the shark in a new way. The poet is much more humble now, not so sure of his own superiority over the rest of nature.

14. Main Idea
This poem teaches us to think about our relationship with nature in a new way. It may also cause us to question what we are doing to our world and each other. Are we really as intelligent and civilised as we like to think?

15. Ideas & Techniques
The poet gets a shock. He is first of all disorientated (“a rock where none should be”) and then threatened (“rise with a slounge”).
“To stub…to me” – wd ch/inverted sentence/repetition/parenthesis
“rock” – meta
“be/sea/me” – terza rima (unusual rhyme scheme distorting the sentence structure)
“slounge” – wd ch/ allit (with “sea”)

16. Ideas & Techniques
He feel that somehow this encounter has been a positive experience. He gives the human view of the shark.
“But…enough” – sentence str
“on…rain” – meta/parenthesis
“roomsize…brain” – meta/humour

17. Ideas & Techniques “displaced” – double meaning
His whole view of the relationships between creatures is disturbed: he sees himself on the shark’s family tree rather than the shark being on his (ie seeing the world as not being just about humans)
“displaced” – double meaning
“shoggled me centuries back” – wdch/humour/meta
“decadent townee” – wd ch/ humour
“shook…tree” – meta/paradox

18. Ideas & Techniques “Swish...clearer” – analogy/wd ch
“I saw me” – sentence str
“Emerging……..everything” – meta/wd ch
It takes him back to his origins – the origins of all life: that we are all part of the original “slime”.

19. Ideas & Techniques
He now asks: who is the stranger? who is all out of proportion? who is out of place? who is the destructive force (all ideas to do with “monster”)?
He realises that this change of perspective in his thinking is a temporary thing.
“So…monster? – rhetorical question/repetition(of “monster”)
“for twenty seconds” – detail
“sail after sail” – repetition
“tall…tail” – unusual sentence str
(alliteration in these last two lines of s and t)

20. Task
What information are we given in the first stanza about setting? Quote the words that give you this information.
Further detail of the landscape is drawn by the image of the sea ‘tin-tacked with rain’. Comment on the effect created (sight and sound) by this image.
Humour is used in the description of the shark as a ‘room-sized monster with a matchbox brain’. Comment on the impression this description gives.

21. Task
Consider the precision with which MacCaig uses language in the following: ‘Sail after sail, the tall fin slid away and then the tail.’ In what way is the impression of shape and movement created so vividly?
Chart the change in the poet’s feelings from the first bumps with the shark to those he feels in retrospect. Use quotes to back up your opinion.
The writer says the shark ‘displaced more than water’. How does this tie up with the fourth stanza? Quote examples of water-connected imagery that is used to express his reassessment of his relationship between himself and the monster.

22. Answers
He is rowing a boat on the sea. He sees what he thinks is a rock where he would not have expected one. – ‘stub an oar on a rock where none should be’ ‘sea’
The sound is created by the alliteration of the ‘t’ and the sight by the idea of the sea’s surface being pitted by rain.
Contrast between the exaggerated ‘room-sized’ and the tiny ‘matchbox’ brain.

23. Answers
Use of assonance to give slow movement and repetition of ‘sail after sail’. Long sentence.
Alarm at first. Once was ‘too often’ then he thinks he might like to repeat it, ‘But not too often.’ Later he feels he has gained knowledge from the encounter.

24. Answers
He uses the image of the displacement of water to show that he his thought processes have been displaced. This is continued in Stanza Four with the water connected imagery. ‘Swish up the dirt’ and Emerging from the slime’ illustrate his reassessment of the relationship between ‘’this decadent townee’ and the ‘basking shark’.