Aunt Julia

Form: Autobiographical poem – Norman MacCaig is reminiscing memories of his “Aunt Julia”, and now
speaks regretfully that, following her death, he has lost the ability to converse with her in Gaelic.

Structure: Free verse, 5 irregular stanzas; reflects the random nature of human thought showing that
the writing is describing true events. First person narrative, yet the poet uses poetic structure to make
repetition in his poet stand out. Therefore this emphasizes the important ideas in the poem.

Themes: Family, closeness to natural world, death, regret

Norman MacCaig is clearly impressed by his Aunt’s vigour, strength and capability and she performs the
manual tasks. He is also impressed by her Gaelic heritage, thus mentioning twice that she spoke Gaelic.
He also is frustrated by the fact that he was not able to communicate in Gaelic to his Aunt, but
eventually when he learnt the language, it was too late.

He clearly admired his Aunt Julia and presents her as a passionate (stanza 1), welcoming (stanza 5) and
comforting person (stanza3) who made him feel safe. The ending of the poem is ambiguous when he
says “getting angry/with so many questions/unanswered.” He could be referring to his Aunt getting
angry that her question were never answered because MacCaig could not understand her Gaelic dialect.
Or he could be referring to himself in the sense that now he can speak Gaelic, he has so many questions
to ask her, yet they cannot be answered.

This poem can be read as a lament on the passing away of a beloved aunt, and the passing away of an
entire way of life.

Use of Language: There are variety of metaphors which are used to create imagery in the readers’ mind:

“Her hand drew yarn/marvelously out of the air.” – This almost gives a magical element to Aunt Julia
showing her confidence in what she is doing as she is able to do it so easily.

“She was buckets”, “She was winds” – This use of metaphor shows how Aunt Julia was at one with the
manual activities she was doing, it also represents how she is at one with nature. Rather than saying
“she did”.

“welcoming me/with a seagull’s voice” – Again, this metaphor shows a strong identification with nature,
and also relates back to the harsh and loudness of her voice.

Repetition of “I could not”, “getting angry”, and “Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic/very loud and very fast.” This
adds emphasis to what MacCaig is saying and shows its importance.

“I’ve lain at night/in the absolute darkness” & “absolute black” creates dark imagery and fear, but
contrasts with “crickets being friendly.” Which shows the positive harmony of nature, and is
personification.

Juxtaposition of Aunt Julia once speaking “very loud” and then being “silenced”
“water”, “was”, “winds” and “wetly” all alliteration which quicken pace of poem and heighten the
impact.

Elements of a different culture: “Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic” – Language

“threepennybits” – Poverty

“Luskentyre” – Place in Scotland

“of peatscrapes and lazybeds” – Scottish dialect

Tone of poem: respect, admiration, affection, frustration, and lamentation.

Memories

Form: Autobiographical poem where Trilokesh Mukherjee remembers the memories of his
grandmother’s storytelling.

Structure: Free verse, irregular meter shows his memories are free flowing. First person narrative
suggests that the poem is a personal recollection.

Themes: Tradition, family, nature, power of memory/imagination, storytelling, sense of loss.

The poet describes regular gatherings where he and his siblings would gather around the fire at night
listening to the stories of Hindu gods told by his grandmother. The poet describes the sounds of insects
and animals and the sounds of nature along with the smell of food. After eating, they all lie down on
cool straw mats and listen to the stories their grandmother told of the different Hindu Gods where the
children are eager to hear more. Then, as the children fell asleep they met the heroes and heroines in
their dreams. However, after a long pause, Mukherjee continues to say how is grandmother has passed
away, yet the impact she left on the children and the memories are still alive. Mukherjee concludes in
the last line by saying that those are the important memories he has because they support him in his
present life.

Use of Language: “untiring chirping of crickets and nightjars” assonance of ‘i’ brings the sounds alive. In
the same way, “food being cooked”. Sights and sounds used to appeal to the readers senses to
understand the described scene. Also creates exotic imagery.

“hooting” and “howling” are examples of onomatopoeia which further create imagery and make the
poem more effective on the reader.

The metaphor “glow worms added golden firework sparks on the dark canvas” also creates imagery, and
there is a contrast of the brightness of the worms and the dark colour of the canvas.

Sibilance from “smelled” and “smoked” brings the smell alive. “….” Ellipses represent time taken for
thinking and a dramatic pause.

“Grandmother” is a respectful and formal reference.

“far away unknown, yet familiar” is an oxymoron.

Repetition of “again and again” emphasizes how many times grandma told the stories, yet the children
still enjoyed hearing them.

“Sad Damayanti, valiant Bheema, wonderful Bishma” – the use of adjectives gives a sense of personality
to the Gods and brings them to life.

“Grandmother is no more.” Abrupt tone of sadness, short, sharp, blunt, and an effective change.

“lost lives” is a double entendre, the first meaning is the loss of his grandmother and the second
meaning is the loss of his Hindu culture.

Elements of a different culture: “untiring chirping of crickets and nightjars/the hooting of the night owls
and howling of the distant jackals”, “Smelled the smoke of the fire and the food being cooked/The semll
of rice boiled over the hot earthen oven….” Different sounds, smells and sights from India represent
elements from a different culture. Also, foods from a different culture.

Reference to the Hindu Gods shows religion of a different culture.

Tone of poem: respect, affection and sadness.

After the Deluge

Form: Biblical parable full of eternal moral truth, whereby Wole Soyinka talks about the life of a dictator
who’s rich fortune is turned to poverty after a political change.

Structure: Free verse, written in third person narrative voice as it is not a recording of a personal
experience.

Themes: Wealth and poverty, greed, dictatorship

The title ‘After the Deluge’ may refer to the king of the 18 th century who’s saying was “Apres moi, le
deluge”. It therefore links the selfish, and wealthy man in the poem to having the lifestyle of an 18 th
century monarch.

Wole Soyinka is writing about the inequality, corruption and upheaval in an unnamed African nation. He
describes the life of a wealthy man who is either a member of the government or a supporter. However,
after a political change occurs, the man’s fortune changes and he turns to poverty.

Prior the change in government, the man had extravagant wealth whereby he even filled swimming
pools with money just as a dare, or used his wealth to buy expensive food and furniture, all out of his
mere pleasure. This is immoral as the rest of his country is suffering from poverty and starvation, whilst
he abuses his money by using it in unnecessary ways.

He also used his power to obtain money from other countries by manipulating the currency and gold
bullion markets causing social and political unrest in many countries.
In order to isolate himself from everyone and to ensure that he remained protected, he lived in a
fortified complex which allowed him to view the land through technology. Also, due to his selfishness he
was unloved by everybody and resorted to befriending dogs. Another unpleasant aspect of his
personality is that he would give only a small fraction of his wealth to charity but would publicise this to
make himself look good and claim maximum publicity.

After the change in government, he escapes the lynching and is allowed to live, but only so that he can
experience a life spent in poverty. The poet that describes a dream in which the man is ironically
queuing up to get water and passes by houses owned by rich people. Thus showing that business is
running smoothly without him and he has become a forgotten figure.

Lastly, his poverty is further described as the poet says his mansion and swimming pool once so grand is
now filled with snakes and lizards with crusted algae on its surface.

Use of Language: The title ‘After the Deluge’ can refer to the story of Noah’s Ark whereby God had had
enough of the selfish people and therefore sent a flood. However, Noah had built and ark and God
granted him the blessing to carry on living life afterwards as he was a righteous man. Similarly, the man
in the poem has been allowed to carry on living after the flood in a poor state of living as he was not a
righteous man. His survival in a life of poverty is punishment for his greedy and selfish actions.

“heart-shaped swimming pool” shows that his heart was filled and only desired money thus showing his
lack of emotions to other people. This also symbolically shows his own lack of heart. This also contrasts
with the starvation and poor people who live on a “parched land where/Water is a god”.

“Turn somersaults” money is personified, creating imagery. Also, this shows the ease at which he moved
money across different countries.

“New York, Sofia and Johannesburg.” By listing the different cities, Soyinka is emphasizing the amount of
countries this man had influence over.

“His widow’s mite, discreetly publicized.” This is a biblical reference to Jesus, from a story he told in
which a woman had given all of her wealth, which was not much to charity. However, the man in the
poem only gives a small fraction of his wealth and demands publicity from it. The phrase “discreetly
publicized” is an oxymoron which suggests that the man didn’t want to seem bigheaded but at the same
time he wanted everyone to know that he donated money.

“He escaped the lynch days. He survives.” Short, sharp, blunt and create a dramatic effect.

“where he lately roosted”, “the preying bird/Of passage” both create imagery of birds. They are both
metaphors suggesting the man’s cold-blooded nature and lack of humanity. This also suggests that the
man has now become the prey.

“Far far away” repetition emphasizes how the previous life of the man is long gone. It also shows where
he once was, and where he is now.
Elements of a different culture: Wealth and poverty “He made a billion yen” Japanese currency.

Also “village/Water line, a parched land where/Water is god” shows wealth and poverty.

“Creepers”, “snakes and lizards” show animals from different countries.

Tone of poem: mixture of contempt for main character and satisfaction that the man has fallen from a
life of excess to a life of poverty.

Late Winter Months