Basking Shark Flashcards
“to stub an oar on a rock where none should be to have it rise with a slounge out of the sea is a thing that happened once (too often) to me.”
Metaphor suggests that the shark is a force to be reckoned with.
the effect is to create tension and suspense until meaning is completed.
“but not too often - though enough. I count as gain that once I met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain, that roomiszed monster with a matchbox brain.”
ultimately see the experiences as positive shows his thoughtfulness after the event
‘I met’ word choice suggests the poet is no longer shocked
Exaggeration: roomsized. Contrast with matchbox brain. Shows the poet’s humour that although large, these sharks are not dangerous.
contrast makes the shark sound ridiculous
“he displaced more than water. He shoggled me centuries back - this decadent townee shook on a wrong branch of his family tree.”
The sharks movement causes the water to move violently shifting the poet and the boat. The poet is also saying here is also saying here that the shark has caused him to question his place in evolution.
Describes hiself as something that lives by choice away from nature. he mocks himself and is able to reflect on own situation.
“swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring is all the clearer. I saw me, in one fling, emerging from the slime of everything
‘slime’ emphasises the baseness of the beginning/ importantly, a shared beginning.
word choice fling suggest his realisation(that he shares his origins with the shark) is quite an intense experience.
“So who’s the monster? The thought made me grow pale for twenty seconds while, sail after sail. The tall fin slid away and then the tail.”
‘so who’s the monster?’ rhetorical question the second the poet uses the word monster he is using it to reflect on evolution. He is saying that the real monster is so called civilisation.
Punctuation used to reveal graceful creature. The poet’s lasting impression is not of a monster, but a beautiful creature… we can see from this technique how the poet’s view of the shark has changed throughout the poem.
