Edwin Morgan

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Edwin Morgan

• Scottish Poetry

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Edwin Morgan

• Who is Edwin Morgan?
• What do we know about him?

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Edwin Morgan

• Edwin Morgan was born on 27 April, 1920, in
  Glasgow.
• He attended Rutherglen Academy and the High
  School of Glasgow, before studying English at
  Glasgow University.
• During the Second World War he registered as a
  conscientious objector, before serving in the
  Royal Army Medical Corps, mainly in the Middle
  East.
• He resumed his studies in 1946, and the following
  year began lecturing in English at Glasgow
  University. His first books original poems and
  translations appeared in 1952.

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Edwin Morgan

• Morgan is commonly recognised as one of the most
  important poets in modern Scottish literature.
• In 1999, Morgan was made the first Glasgow Poet
  Laureate. In 2004, he was named as the first
  Scottish national poet The Scots Makar.
• One of the reasons he is so popular is because
  his work is so vast ranging he was an
  experimental poet who wrote about many different
  topics and who used many different forms of
  poetry to express his ideas.

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Good Friday

• What is the poem about?
• What stands out for you most about this poem?
  What do you find most interesting about it?

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Good Friday

• Where and when is the poem set?
• Why is the man, who speaks to the poet, on the
  bus?
• How does the writer use language to show the man
  is drunk? Comment on two separate features of
  language.
• What contrasts are made between the poet and the
  drunk man?
• What does the layout at the end of the poem show
  us?

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Glasgow

• Brainstorm all the words you associate with
  Glasgow.
• To what extent is the drunk man a stereotypical
  Glaswegian?

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The poet/speaker

• What is the poet/speakers attitude towards the
  man. Choose one of the options below
• Angry at him
• Disinterested
• Dislikes him
• Amused by him
• Finds him interesting
• Its hard to tell
• Be ready to explain your answer.

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Consider the following statement

• I was born in Glasgow and have lived most of my
  life there, and whatever image the city has to
  the outside world, to me it underlies and
  pervades my feeling at a deep level of
  identification and sympathy."
• (Edwin Morgan)
• Does it help us understand the poets attitude
  to the drunk man?

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Language techniques

• The poets use of word choice, colloquial
  language and sentence structure are key
  techniques in helping us understand the poem.
• They create a very vivid picture of the
  situation and the character the poet is
  describing.

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Word choice

• What does the poets use of lurches suggest
  about the way the bus is moving?
• The man flops beside the poet. What does this
  tells us about his movements? Why does he move
  this way?
• Why do you think the man uses the words wee
  drink?
• Look at the rest of the poem. What other words
  and phrases give us an impression of the drunk
  man?

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Sentence structure

• Morgan uses sentence structure to show the man
  is drunk the poem is almost a monologue as the
  poet only uses his own words at the start and the
  end.
• Task
• Read over the drunk mans dialogue.
• What do you notice about the sentence structure?
  Think about punctuation, sentence length, etc.
• What does it convey to us about the man?

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A few more pointers

1. Look at the end of the poem. How does the
   writers word choice make it clear that the drunk
   man is not completely out of control/that he can
   look after himself?
2. What is the mood at the end of the poem? Explain
   your answer.
3. The drunk man says that the working man is
   bliddy ignorant. Do you think the poet/poem
   agrees with this idea?

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Trio by Edwin Morgan

• Read the poem with your teacher and answer the
  following in groups
• When and where is the poem set? Use a quotation
  to support your answer.
• What would you say is the mood of the poem?
  Provide evidence for your answer.
• Why is the poem called Trio?
• In what way do the Trio described link to the
  Christmas/Christian story?

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Orpheus

• Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and
  prophet in ancient Greek mythology.
• The major stories about him are centred on his
  ability to charm all living things and even
  inanimate objects like stones with his music.

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Trio lines 1-14 Analysis and Evaluation

1. Consider the poets use of the present tense. Why
   is it effective?
2. What are the trio carrying? What do these items
   represent? What feeling do we associate with
   them?
3. Their breath rises in a cloud of happiness. Why
   is this phrase unusual? What is the effect?
4. Identify the two similes in this section and
   comment on what they suggest. How do they add to
   the joyful mood?
5. Pick out any other words and phrases the poet
   uses to create this mood.

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Trio lines 15-20

• 6. The vale of tears is powerless before you.
  What does the poet mean when he uses this
  metaphor?
• 7. How is the same idea continued later in this
  section? Quote and comment.

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Final stanza

• Look at the last stanza do you notice anything
  unusual about the sentence structure?
• Another simile is used in this section. Copy it
  down and then comment on its meaning.
• What is the mood at the end of this poem? Explain
  your answer.
• Can you see any similarities between this poem
  and the last poem e.g. content, themes,
  language, layout?

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Discussion

• Now you have read and analysed the poem. Discuss
  the following
• What are the key themes/messages of the poem?
• What does the poet want to make us think about?
• List as many as possible.

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Group Discussion

• The poem deals with the themes of Christmas and
  its meaning religion, friendship, joy and love.
• You are now going to take part in an assessed
  group discussion on the topic of Christmas and
  its meaning.
• English Creation and Production,
• Outcome 2.
• Literacy Outcome 4

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Group Discussion Success Criteria

• Take turns to talk, listen carefully to others
  and acknowledge the chairperson.
• Explain your opinions with evidence/give reasons.
• Support the ideas of others by expanding on their
  points.
• Challenge others and argue against (refute) their
  points.
• The language you use should be appropriate for
  the topic and (when appropriate) should be used
  to create an effect e.g. emotive language or
  repetition to persuade others.
• Vary the tone of your voice and use appropriate
  body language (e.g. eye-contact, gesture)
  depending on whether you are making a point,
  listening to someone else, etc.

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In the Snack-bar

• Having read and analysed two of Morgans poems,
  its now time to use the skills you have learned
  independently.
• You will be given a set of questions on an unseen
  Morgan poem called In the Snack-bar.
• Answer the questions in as much detail as
  possible.
• English Analysis and Evaluation Outcome 1
• Literacy Outcome 1

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In the Snack-bar

• Read In the Snack-bar again with your teacher
  then discuss the following questions.
• 1. What is the poem about.
• 2. What emotions does the poem make us feel and
  why?
• 3. Why do you think the poet wrote this poem?
  What themes/ideas does he want to highlight to
  the reader.

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Group Task Annotation

• Working together, highlight all the language
  techniques the poet uses.
• Alliteration
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Onomatopoeia
• Word choice
• Repetition
• Punctuation
• Any other effective sentence structure e.g.
  listing, sentence length, etc.

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In the Snack-bar

• In this poem the poet uses various language
  techniques to highlight the nature of the
  disabled mans situation.
• As well as being able to identify these
  techniques, you should be able to comment on
  their effects. What do they help to show the
  reader?

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Word choice

• Find and comment on the following examples of
• word choice. Why did the writer use these words?
  What do they help to show?
• Slithering
• Clatter
• Looming
• Shambles
• Uncouth
• Clinical gleam
• He asks doubtfully
• Contraption

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Imagery

• What do the following examples of imagery help us
  understand?
• like a monstrous animal caught in a tent.
• A few yards of floor are like a landscape.
• His water is thin and slow, an old mans apology
  for living.
• His hands like wet leaves stuck to the half
  white stick

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Sentence Structure

• The poet also uses a number of other structural
  techniques, which we can call sentence structure.
  These include
• repetition
• listing
• long and short sentences
• effective punctuation.
• Task You should have already highlighted
  examples of these. Now comment on what they help
  to convey to the reader.

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The last stanza

• Look at the last stanza. What is it that the
  poet find most harrowing about the mans
  situation? Use evidence to support your answer.

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Hyena

• Before you read the poem discuss with your group
  what you think of when you think of a hyena.
• What is their stereotypical reputation? How are
  they often presented in stories? For example,
  Disneys The Lion King?

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Hyena

• How is the poem meant to make us feel?

Terrified
Excited
Frightened
Intrigued
Anxious
Uneasy
Intimidated
Sympathetic
Admiring
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Hyena

• The poem is written from the hyenas point of
  view. Rewrite the first verse using personal
  pronouns he or she instead of I.
• What difference does this make to the poem? Does
  it give it less or more impact? Try to explain
  your opinion.

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Hyena

1. Look at stanza one. How is the setting built up?
   What kind of place is described?
2. What qualities would a creature need to survive
   in this kind of landscape?
3. Why does the poet keep using the simile like
   Africa in stanza two?
4. What does the metaphor, I am a ranger suggest
   about the hyena and his lifestyle?

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African Veldt - Setting
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African Veldt - Setting
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African Veldt - Setting
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Hyena Stanza three

1. When the moon pours hard and cold on the veldt.
   What does this metaphor suggest about the African
   countryside at night?
2. What impression is given of the setting in this
   stanza? Use evidence to support your answer.
3. The hyena howls at the moon. What impression does
   this give of him?

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Hyena Stanza four

• 1. How does the writer use word choice to show
  the difference between the hyena and the lion (an
  animal we commonly admire)?
• 2. In this stanza the poet comments on a common
  image or misconception we have of the hyena as
  sly because it looks like it is laughing. What
  does the poet try to show us about the hyena?

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Hyena final stanza

1. What does the final stanza show us? What is it a
   list of? How does it help to build tension?
2. At the end the poet shows us that the hyena is
   not the killer. How does he use language to do
   this.
3. How are we meant to feel about the hyena at the
   end of the poem? Explain your answer.
4. What point does the poet make about our bodies
   after death at the end of the poem?

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Annotation

• Now go through your poem and highlight and
  comment on any language techniques used by the
  poet. These might be examples we have already
  discussed or new examples you have found.

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Winter

• Like Trio this poem deals with the topic of
  winter . However, it has a very different mood.
• In your groups decide what the mood of this poem
  is.
• What lines/words/ideas helped you decide the
  mood of the poem?

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Winter

• Look at lines 1-12. How does the poet give the
  idea of time passing, of the seasons going by and
  the years passing?
• Quote any lines or phrases you can find which
  show this idea.

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Winter

1. Why do you think the swan leaves when ice
   appears?
2. How does the poet show us the winter ice getting
   thicker and stronger?
3. The idea of everything being cold and dead is
   contrasted with the liveliness of the skaters.
   How does the writer use word choice to show the
   skaters bringing the pond to life?

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Winter

• Straight after the liveliness of the skaters we
  are told that the sound and energy 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. (lines 15-18)

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Look at lines 15-18

• How do these lines convey the idea of death and
  decay?
• Pick out any words and phrases which suggest
  death and decay.

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Lines 19 - 24

1. What tells us we are now in the modern day?
2. The poet still sees winter as a symbol of death.
   What arrives and puts out all the light?
3. The writer uses an example of imagery to show how
   all consuming and lonely he thinks the cold and
   darkness of winter can be. Copy the imagery down.
   What type of imagery is this?

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The ending of the poem

• and on this paper I do not know
• about the grey dead pane
• Of ice that sees nothing and that nothing sees.
• In group discuss the ending of the poem.
• What doesnt the poet know at the end?
• What does winter seem to symbolise for the poet?

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The poets use of colour

• The poet uses colour throughout the poem to
  symbolise both life and death.
• Highlight any examples of this.

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Symbolism

• The swan is a symbol of life it leaves when
  winter arrives but it also relates to death when
  its described as a ghost.
• Winter is also symbolic of death as is the cold
  ice, darkness and the fog the poet describes.
• However, although the poem is about death. Its
  also about rejuvenation its not permanent
  summer will come again.
• The poem is about the cycle of life and death.

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Compare this poem with Trio

1. What do they have in common?
2. In what way are they different?
3. Which do you like the best and why?

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Slate

• Read this poem with your teacher then read the
  poem again in your groups.
• This is possibly the most challenging poem we
  have read.
• In general, what does the poem seem to be about?
  What clues helped you work this out?

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Slate

• The poem is about the physical creation of
  Scotland the land forming long before man was
  on the Earth.
• There is no beginning. Morgan starts with
  this short sentence to emphasise there is no way
  you can say exactly when the idea of Scotland as
  a nation came into existence.
• It is something that happened slowly and
  gradually you cant put a time/date on it.
• However, it started with the creation of our land
  which is what he describes in his poem.

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Slate

• We know he is talking about Scotland as Morgan
  refers to two Scottish islands Staffa and Lewis.
• The poem is also taken form a series of poems
  called Sonnets from Scotland.
• This is the first poem in the series the
  beginning of Scotland.

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Lewis
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Lewis
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Staffa
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Staffa
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Lewis and Staffa

• Lewis and Staffa are both islands off the west
  coast of Scotland.
• Staffa is of particular geological interest
  because of its basaltic columns, which were
  formed as a result of the cooling of flows of
  lava as they came into contact with colder
  bedrock and then were exposed to Scotland's
  weather.
• When we look at the pictures of Staffa and Lewis
  - as oppose to the images of Glasgow we have
  considered we can begin to imagine Scotland in
  its early stages of formation.

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Volcanic formations

• You could watch this quick video to help you
  understand http//www.youtube.com/watch?vRMtuTfA
  qAbo

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The Great Glen

• The poet also refers to the Great Glen.
• The Great Glen stretches for 117km from coast to
  coast across the Highlands, linking the main
  centres of Fort William and the regional capital
  of Inverness.

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Drumlin

• A drumlin is an oval or elongated hill believed
  to have been formed by the streamlined movement
  of glacial ice sheets across rock debris. The
  name is derived from the Gaelic word druim
  (rounded hill, or mound) and first appeared
  in 1833.

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Ben

• The word ben comes from the Gaelic Ben is Beinn
  meaning a mountain, a hill or a pinnacle.
• Think of Scottish mountains e.g. Ben Nevis,
  Ben Macdui, etc.
• Ben Nevis ??

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The voice

• The speaker in the poem is the voice of Scotland.
  When the voice says We saw Lewis laid down he
  is talking about Scotland as a nation, a
  collective.
• The poem uses the first person pronoun we to
  include the speaker but also to include all of
  us. We all make up Scotland along with the actual
  physical land of Scotland.
• He is trying to make us see that Scotland is not
  just about the people in it its about the land
  we live on too.
• Hes trying to show us that the land is a lot
  greater than us. Were just a part of the great
  cycle of the Earth.

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Slate

1. What does the poet mean when he says, We saw
   Lewis laid down?
2. What does the poet mean by, Watched long seas
   plunder faults?
3. Comment particularly on the use of the word
   plunder? What do we usually think of when we hear
   this word?
4. Drumlins blue as bruises were grated off like
   nutmegs. What technique is the poet using here?
   What does it say about the power of the glaciers?
5. What does the poet mean by the rough back?

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Enjambment

• Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or
  clause over a line-break.
• The poet uses enjambment at the end of line 6.
  This gives the line two different meanings.
• Say the lines out loud with a partner and try to
  identify the two different meanings.

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Slate

1. In lines 7 -10 the poet tries to give the
   impression of the land changing as time passes.
   What helps to shape the land as time passes?
2. What feature(s) of sentence structure does the
   poet use to show this change?
3. How does the poets word choice show the violence
   of the weather and sea?

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Slate

• Sonnets usually have a turning point or change
  in subject.
• The change in this sonnet comes in line 11. What
  is introduced in line 11 that has not yet been
  referred to?

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Man

• Yes, its us mankind. We didnt exist yet. The
  poet uses the line
• Memory of men! That was to come.
• In the first part of the poem (lines 1-10) man
  doesnt exist yet. However in line 11 man is
  introduced.

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Lines 11-14

• The poet again uses enjambment in this section.
  Where does he use it? What words does it
  emphasise?

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Lines 11-14

• In the last line the poet tells us that when
  man arrived they threw walls to the sky.
• What does the word choice of threw suggest
  about mans treatment of the earth?
• Why do you think the poet calls a rainbows
  glory sorry once man arrives?

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Last line

• Their heels kicked flint, chalk, slate.
• The last line is a list which reminds us what our
  world is made of and what we tread over everyday.
• It reminds us that we kick these materials out of
  our way but Morgan wants to put us in our place
  and show us that the earth has been around a lot
  longer than us and it will survive longer than
  us.
• Thats why man only has 4 lines of the poem!

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Form

• The poem takes the form of a sonnet.
• Sonnets are usually 14 lines long.
• They often have a turning point, or change in
  tone or topic often called the volta.
• Sonnets are usually written in iambic pentameter
  10 syllables per line.
• Sonnets are often written as a way of paying
  reverence to something/someone e.g. A lover.
• In this case the poet is paying reverence to
  Scotland.

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Form

• Copy the first four lines of the poem in your
  jotter.
• Now underline each syllable.
• Now go through the poem and see if you can see a
  rhyming scheme.

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Edwin Morgan

• You have now studied all the poems you might be
  asked about in the National 5 exam.
• Trio
• Good Friday
• In the Snack-bar
• Hyena
• Winter
• Slate