1. Memorial
Norman MacCaig

2. Learning Intention: We are learning how to read the poem for UNDERSTANDING So that I can Understand the basic points of the poem before I study the poet's techniques Success Criteria: I can... Identify the speaker, setting and subject of the poem Summarise what happens in the poem Identify and define any unfamiliar vocabulary words

3. Homework
Before we begin to study the poem, we need to do some work to ensure that we all understand what is happening in the poem. You have already completed these tasks for Assisi so you should be familiar with the process. From now on, you will do this on your own for homework before we study each poem in class..

4. Before Reading Task One
The title of the poem is “Memorial”.
What words do you connect with this title? Write them in the box in your worksheet.
Now take TWO minutes and discuss this with your partner. Be ready to feedback to the class.

5. Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for the memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event.
Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks.
The most common type of memorial is the gravestone or the memorial plaque. Also common are war memorials commemorating those who have died in wars.

6. Background
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. For him death presented an awful finality. Still, 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.

7. “Memorial” by Norman MacCaig
We are going to listen to Norman MacCaig introduce the poem “Memorial”.
(lowest clip on page, 1min 50 into clip)
As you listen, answer the questions on the following slide.

8. Listening Exercise - Questions
What event, according to MacCaig changed ‘death’ from more than just a concept? (1)
What examples does MacCaig use to show he has not really experienced death or grief until later in life? (2)
Why do you think MacCaig has written this poem? (1)

9. Listening Exercise - Answers
What event, according to MacCaig changed ‘death’ from more than just a concept? (1)
The death of his friends.
3. What examples does MacCaig use to show he has not really experienced death or grief until later in life? (2)
He has survived two wars and his parents both died in old age.
4. Why do you think MacCaig has written this poem? (1)
He has written this poem in memory of his wife/sister.

10. “Memorial”
We will now listen closely to Norman MacCaig reading his poem.
Listen carefully to the poem and follow it in your workbook.
Now that we have heard the poem through once, you will re-read it yourself and answer the questions in your workbook.

11. Reading
As you read it for the second time I want you to make a list of any unfamiliar vocabulary words that you come across and any questions or thoughts/observations that you may have.

12. “Memorial” 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?

13. “Memorial” 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.

14. “Memorial” 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.

15. Reading
Vocabulary
Definition
Questions
Answer
Other Thoughts

16. Glossary
Lurking - be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something: be present in a latent or barely discernible state, although still presenting a threat:
Carousel - a merry-go-round at a fair. A display that spins round.
Intolerable- unable to be endured: insufferable.
Crocus - a small spring-flowering Eurasian plant of the iris family, which grows from a corm and bears bright yellow, purple, or white flowers
Elegy - a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
Atheist - Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist.
Agnostic - a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God.

17. Problem solving
On your own or with a study partner try to generate definitions for all the unfamiliar vocabulary words. You can use dictionaries or dicationary.com on your phone to help you! Make sure to look up every word you're not sure of and write it down in the table. I will be testing your knowledge of the vocabulary when you return. Now I want you to turn your attention to your questions. Using the internet or any other resources at your disposal, try to find an answer for each of your questions.

18. Now!
Working in the same pairs, read the poem again and take notes under the following headings
What (happens in the poem)
Where (do events takes place)
When ( do events take place)
Who ( is mentioned in the poem)

19. Consolidation
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.
Memorial is a sad and beautiful poem about how the sense of loss of the poet’s dear one pervades every aspect of his life. Her death, he makes clear, is not for him an event that has its place in the near past, already a part of history.
Instead the process of her dying stays with him constantly: the opening states, “Everywhere she dies” and in the final stanza, “she can’t stop dying”.

20. Understanding Questions
Stanza One Stanza two Stanza Three

21. Learning intention Learning Intention:
We are learning WHY MacCaig chose to write this poem
So that I can
Understand the message that he is trying to convey to the reader
Success Criteria
I should be able to give one reason why MacCaig wrote the poem
I could also be able to offer another reason why the poem was written
I might also be able to identify what makes the poem universal

22. Why?
Now that we have a good basic understanding of the poem, we have to think about the WHY question.
Why did the poet choose to write this particular poem about this particular experience?
What is he trying to share with the reader?

23. Themes
Thinking about the poem as a whole, what do you consider the main ideas or themes of the poem?

24. Key Themes Facing Death (either the dying person, or the relative)
Isolation surrounding death/emotion

25. Themes
The central theme of the poem is the sense of unending grief that is felt when someone we love dies.
MacCaig creates a tone which is almost nihilistic and utterly hopeless in its despairingly bleak outlook.
Nevertheless, there is an occasional glimpse of optimism and beauty contained within the image of the crocus, which is “never carved more gently than in the way her dying shapes my mind.”
This seems to imply one of the abiding effects of his grief is that it will forever and indelibly continue to shape and impact on his creative work.

26. Class Discussion Think about…
Is it less of an ordeal for the dying person than the one left behind?
Dying is something we have to do alone, despite being surrounded by loved ones?
How realistic do you find the poet’s feelings?

27. Memorial
Analysis

28. Stanza One: In the first stanza, the speaker introduces the subject of his meditation, the death of a loved one. It introduces us to the narrator’s grief and how he struggles to try and carry on after losing his loved one but feels continually haunted by her.

29. Stanza two In the second stanza he reflects and explores the impact of this painful experience while reaching a conclusion of sorts in the final stanza, by reiterating the assertion made in the first line of her death being everywhere, ever present. He recalls the death of his loved one and the impact it has had upon his life and his work. It also considers what has become of her now that she has gone.

30. Stanza Three: Deals with how the narrator recognises that he is a walking memorial to his late wife. He mourns for her and relives her death every day. It is he that is most affected by her passing.

31. Structure Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies.
No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain
but has her death in it.

32. Structure Short sentences add dramatic emphasis to opening.
Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies.
No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain
but has her death in it.
Short sentences add dramatic emphasis to opening.
Repetition of “Everywhere” highlights how much the death has affected the speaker. This idea is continued with repetition of “No” in following line.

33. Structure How can my hand clasp another’s when between them
is that thick death, that intolerable distance?

34. Structure How can my hand clasp another’s when between them
is that thick death, that intolerable distance?
Poet uses enjambment to highlight the distance between himself and his wife.

35. Structure 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.

36. Structure 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.
Poet shows a change of tone here, suggesting a growing fear of death.

37. Structure I am a walking masterpiece, a true fiction
of the ugliness of death.
I am her sad music.

38. Structure I am a walking masterpiece, a true fiction
of the ugliness of death.
I am her sad music.
Final line is simple and short to give it more emphasis.
He compares himself to being the ‘sad music’ of her funeral.
Free verse is used throughout, which reflects the poet’s confused feelings on her death.

39. Imagery The silence of her dying sounds through
the carousel of language. It’s a web
on which laughter stitches itself.

40. Imagery The silence of her dying sounds through
the carousel of language. It’s a web
on which laughter stitches itself.
As a poet, words are hugely important to him.
What he saw as a fun, bright, colourful and musical ride is now silenced by her death.
Her death is now a web- he is unable to free himself from its hold. The word “stitches” suggests this hold is very strong.

41. Imagery 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.

42. Imagery
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.
Compares her death to a crocus flower- beautiful, natural and fragile.

43. Imagery
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.
Compares her death to a crocus flower- beautiful, natural and fragile.
Later in the stanza the imagery becomes much darker- these black words suggest a nothingness- the poet believes there is nothing after death.

44. Word Choice
“is that thick death, that intolerable distance?”

45. Word Choice “is that thick death, that intolerable distance?”
The poet uses the word thick, which is a strange word to use to describe death. It suggests it is surrounding him, like a fog perhaps. It also emphasises the distance that keeps him apart from others.

46. Word Choice “She grieves for my grief.” “the sound of soundlessness”
“Ever since she died she can’t stop dying.”

47. Word Choice “She grieves for my grief.” “the sound of soundlessness”
She is sorry that he will be grieving for her.
“She grieves for my grief.”
“the sound of soundlessness”
“Ever since she died she can’t stop dying.”

48. Word Choice “She grieves for my grief.” “the sound of soundlessness”
She is sorry that he will be grieving for her.
“She grieves for my grief.”
“the sound of soundlessness”
“Ever since she died she can’t stop dying.”
Absolute silence.

49. Word Choice “She grieves for my grief.” “the sound of soundlessness”
She is sorry that he will be grieving for her.
“She grieves for my grief.”
“the sound of soundlessness”
“Ever since she died she can’t stop dying.”
Absolute silence.
He is always thinking about her.

50. Word Choice “She grieves for my grief.” “the sound of soundlessness”
The poet uses paradoxes within the poem.
These suggest that he cannot make sense of his wife’s death.
She is sorry that he will be grieving for her.
“She grieves for my grief.”
“the sound of soundlessness”
“Ever since she died she can’t stop dying.”
Absolute silence.

51. Memorial
Annotation

52. “Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies.”
• Blunt opening line. Mirrors the bluntness of his feelings.
The short blunt statement that opens the poem grabs the readers’ attention and makes clear that this poem will be about death and grieving and instantly suggests the pain that the poet is feeling.
• The future tense “dies”
• Repetition of “she dies” suggests how persistent this pain is for the persona.
• Repetition of “everywhere” emphasises that there is no place that the persona is able to escape thoughts of his loved one’s death, indicates that his grief is all-encompassing. It emphasises the on-going nature of his grief.
• “I go” suggests that he has tried to go to a variety of different places. He is reflecting on his pain sometime after the death but it still feels as raw. Is the poet trying to move on? the poet cannot escape awareness of the death of his loved one.
“She” – loved one lacks identity – ambiguous
The juxtaposition of the “I” and the “she” immediately informs us of the bond between the speaker and the subject of the poem.

53. “No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain / but has her death in it.”
• Use of repetition “no” and the list of places emphasises how many different places he has tried but is unable to find comfort in. He has looked in nature, “sunrise”, quiet places , “mountain” and busy urban areas but is unable to avoid thoughts of the death.
• All the things listed have connotations of attractiveness, but “beautiful” is also used to make clear that it doesn’t matter how attractive the sights are that he sees, they are unable to allow him to stop thinking about the loss of the person that he loves
– repetition conveys the lack of life and vibrancy the poet sees. The list conveys all of the beautiful places/sights which he witnesses (all of which seem characteristic of beauty) which fail to alleviate his grief. places have now been tainted with death.
The repeated use of the negative “no” emphasises how inescapable and ubiquitous her death is for him.
The specific choice of the situations in which he feels her death most keenly is also significant as they are not usually associated with death - a city square is usually bustling with people, while sunrise and mountains are associated with providing aesthetic pleasure.
This suggests that, such is the impact of her death, these places and experiences have now become tainted with death and grief pervades every facet of his existence.
Full stop - finality

54. “The silence of her dying sounds through / the carousel of language.”
• This paradox (a contradiction used for effect) emphasises the power of her death. Even though she is now literally silent because of her death, the effect of her death is impacting on how the poet experiences language. The grief he feels creates a silence so intense that no words can comfort him. •
The metaphor “carousel” of language compares speech to a fair-ground attraction that goes round and round. This suggests that he is hearing the same things repeatedly (perhaps attempts to comfort him?) but that they have little purpose. It is also important to remember that MacCaig is a poet – language is very important to him. By comparing it to something slightly silly and pointless he is further proving how over-whelming this death is for him. Even something else that he loves has become meaningless because of his grief.
He compares death to a shocking and dreadful silence which disturbs the usual pattern of language. The grief he feels creates a silence so intense that no words comfort him.
he compares language to an upbeat carousel with little purpose providing short-lived pleasure.
Poet focusing on sound – silence overpowering him

55. “It’s a web / on which laughter stitches itself.”
• This metaphor compares death to a spider’s web. Laughter and joy are caught in it, i.e. he is unable to feel them at all because of his grief.
– silence/Death is compared to a web – a trap – in which a helpless creature will find itself. Here he refers to how all joy will be taken by death, doomed to be stuck because neither comforting words nor laughter can break through his grief.

56. How can my hand / clasp another’s when between them / is that thick death, that intolerable distance?
• Use of a question shows the persona’s helplessness. w/c – “clasp another's” – a desperate action of holding another person’s hand in affection, indicating that he feels that he cannot form other relationships as death will only overpower and destroy these.
s/s – rhetorical question emphasises his isolation and feelings of despair “How can...?” – indicating the poet’s feelings of helplessness that he cannot love if death will come to destroy this. Tone is pessimistic.
• Word choice of “clasp”, means to hold onto something with connotations of holding on tightly, desperation. This suggests the poet wants companionship, but is unable to develop it.
• “clasp another’s” the poet is unable to understand how he can seek solace from other people or form any new and close relationships.
• “thick death” the word choice/imagery of thick suggests that death and his grief are a physical barrier that prevents him from becoming close to other people. “that thick death” – death is like a viscous substance or fog which we cannot escape or move through
• “intolerable distance” – this metaphor refers to the emotional distance caused by his grief. He is unable to overcome it in order to be close to others. “intolerable” emphasises how difficult this is for the poet. Death has created an unbearable distance between him and his loved one and also him and the rest of humanity..

57. “She grieves for my grief.”
• The stream of consciousness has jumped back in time to the persona’s experiences with his loved one while she is dying. Partial repetiton of “grieves” emphasises the closeness between them. They have the same emotion. Even though she is the one that is dying, she loves the persona so much that she is sad because of the pain that he feels and will feel.
She is compassionate and cares for the speaker/saddened by his deep sorrow. Reinforces the bond shared.
Even at the point of death, she cares more for him than for herself; she reassures him, even at the point of great illness.

58. Dying, she tells me that bird dives from the sun, that fish leaps into it.”
• This stanza appears to be a flashback to when the loved one was alive.
The dying woman has attempted to comfort the persona with some nature imagery. It suggests the circularity of life, reminding the poet that death is a natural part of life. It also suggests that she is calm and peaceful about her impending death.
: She seems to suggest that there is a natural order to things - this seems to be words of reassurance. That all natural things are part of a natural order and death is part of that ( the reversal of living).
The image of the sun is bright and glorious and is perhaps a more positive depiction of death from her view.

59. “No crocus is carved more gently / than the way her dying shapes my mind”
• Again we have nature imagery: crocuses grow at the start of spring. Consequently, they are symbols of re-birth and renewal. They are delicate and beautiful. There is hope that he may be working through his grief while still feeling the permanent impact of the loss.
extended metaphor–beauty of natural imagery – indicating the dignity and beauty of the woman. Compares beauty of a flower to the way his thinking is shaped by her death – a flower is intricate and death has significantly shaped his thoughts.
Symbolism of Crocus - could be symbol for hope/ renewal, as it's a spring flower. Spring can be equated with new life and a new beginning. Is the poet working through his grief?

60. “– But I hear, too, / the other words, / black words that make the sound / of soundlessness,
“But” indicates a change of direction, unfortunately he has to hear these other things.
• Use of enjambment build suspense for what it is the persona hears.
• “black” –darkness, mystery and grief.
The word choice of “black” -conveys that he feels these ideas are meaningless or that death to him is a great void; the horror of the oblivion of the grave.
Oxymoron/sibilance – “sound of soundlessness” – he discussed the condolences which he has received which he associated with emptiness, or pain.
Words – condolences and sympathies from friends and well-wishers

61. that name the nowhere / she is continuously going into.”
• MacCaig was an atheist, he did not believe in an afterlife, and this is acknowledged by “soundlessness” and “nowhere” – there is no heaven or hell for the loved one - but his use of paradox, “sound” and “name”, show that he still cannot stop thinking and fearing what may happen to her after death.
perhaps a reference to heaven. Well-wishers refer to heaven, but this seems of little relevance to him. This is because the persona is not religious and does not believe in life after death.
• Metaphor: Dying and death are presented as a journey that has no destination and never ends. The cycle of suffering is repeated "continuously". This returns to the ideas of the first stanza and emphasises the deep despair and loss that he feels as for him death offers no hope or positivity.

62. “Ever since she died / she can’t stop dying. She makes me / her elegy
he conveys his recurring grief to the process of death reoccurring. He is constantly tortured by this overwhelming experience of the death of his loved one. Links back to “everywhere she dies”. The paradox here returns to the ideas of the first stanza – he is unable to stop thinking about and experiencing the pain of her death
The enigmatic nature of this statement is now clear to us in the overall context of the poem. We realise it is within the poet’s consciousness that she “can’t stop dying”– his psyche is perpetually tortured by this overwhelming experience.
She makes me – his grief is her fault / feelings of anger and denial
Her elegy– He personifies her death and the grief she has left behind
• Another simple statement. This is also the first in a list of metaphors. An elegy is a song or poem associated with death, emphasising that his grief is so raw, so profound and all-consuming, he identifies entirely with it to the exclusion of all else - he has become a physical embodiment of a lament. He calls himself her “elegy”

63. “I am a walking masterpiece, / a true fiction / of the ugliness of death.”
• Metaphor: “masterpiece” – the very best of something. The persona continues his description of the change that the death has wrought on him (referring back to the ideas of stanza two – the comparison to “shapes my mind”) by stating that he is the best example of grief – the image of a “masterpiece” has connotations of being the best example – he is the very epitome of grief.
• Paradox “true fiction” continues the idea of him being the representation of death. “true” shows that the transformation is complete. The oxymoron “true fiction” – shows that he is a faithful representation of the ugliness of illness and death.
Paradox
Her death doesn’t feel real
He feels that his bitter grief is similar to the horror of death. This links back to the earlier idea of “grief”. There may also be a link to the ugly nature of death in “thick death”.

64. “I am her sad music.”
This final metaphor and statement – emphasised by being on a line of its own – sums up the persona’s idea that this death has caused a complete change in his life and personality. There is a sense of acceptance on the persona’s part that his grief is so complete that he lives now only to mourn the loss of the person that he loved.
The final simple line sums up one of the central ideas in the poem: “I am her sad music”.
This hopelessly pessimistic note again emphasises the ceaseless, all-encompassing nature of the grief and sorrow that consume him and pervade every aspect of his consciousness.
This pessimistic tone again emphasises the all-encompassing sorrow that consumes him and pervades every aspect of his consciousness. But he offers himself as a tribute. Sense of acceptance as sound and music has re-entered the poem.