Glasgow Sonnet #1 Flashcards
Look at lines 1-8. Identify two main themes in this section of the poem.
Abandonment, violence, rampant poverty.
Look at lines 9-14. Identify two main themes in this section.
Helplessness, rampant poverty, loneliness, no-one wants to help.
Line 1: “A mean wind wanders through the backcourt trash.”
The wind is personified as ‘mean’, establishing an atmosphere of cruelty and violence.
‘Wind wanders’ - alliteration. Emphasises that there is no destination for the inhabitants of this area in Glasgow, fate and destiny is unclear and unknown.
The word choice of ’trash’ has connotations of rubbish all over. This emphasises that the area is forgotten about and extremely unkempt.
Line 3-4: “Play-fortresses / of brick and bric-a-brac spill out some ash.”
The phrase “Play-fortresses / of brick and bric-a-brac spill out some ash”, is a contrast. Play fortresses are meant to be pleasant to look at and play with, but all the children have to play with is debris.
This suggests the play is based on violence and fighting, and emphasises their poor living conditions.
Line 5: “Four storeys have no windows left to smash,”
This quote describes how many people have robbed and smashed these tenement buildings, making them impossible to live in. This emphasises the unstableness of this area, and how unsafe it is.
Line 6: “but the fifth a chipped sill buttresses”
The phrase ‘buttresses’ has connotations of foundation structures that keep the integrity of the building. Although, the buttresses are described as being ‘chipped’, suggesting that they are damaged, emphasising that they don’t provide the strength to keep the house intact.
Line 7-8: “mother and daughter the last mistresses / of that black block,…”
Morgan uses irony in the word ‘mistresses’, which has connotations of owners or caretakers of something valuable, but in reality, the house that the women own nothing worth having.
‘Black block’ is alliteration, emphasising that there is an absence of feeling in this house, and that it is nearing its inevitable destruction.
Line 8: “condemned to stand, not crash.”
Just as being condemned is to suffer and be punished, so too this metaphor emphasises that no-one is doing a favour by letting this house stand in such a condition, and it is better to let it fall down, because everything is wrong with it.
Line 12: “The man lies late since he has lost his job.”
The word choice / alliteration in ‘lies late’ has connotations of not having a purpose, aimlessness, declining health. This suggests that the man has no present aim to move forward in life, because he’s unemployed and is very poor.
Lines 13-14: “letting his coughs fall / thinly into an air to poor to rob.”
’letting his coughs fall’ emphasises how weak and frail he has become due to bad habits such as staying at home and smoking too often.
The ‘air’ is personified as being poor. This reflects the societal conditions and difficulties of this area, such as a high unemployment rate. people are too poor to afford basic needs and rampant crime, which is an effective conclusion because it links back to the key concept of poverty and unbearable difficulty.
By referring to this poem and to at least one other by Morgan, show how the poet explores painful experiences. (8)
Area of Commonality — In The Snack-Bar / Glasgow Sonnet #1 (2)
Both poems describe painful experiences effectively. In “Glasgow Sonnet”, Morgan paints the picture of an impoverished area in Glasgow, where people live in neglected tenement buildings, that society has failed to take care of, which highlights the painful experience of poverty.
In “In the Snack-Bar”, Morgan depicts an old, blind and hunched man in a bustling snack-bar. The fact that no-one offered to help the man, in fact, he had to ask for help by himself, emphasises how society failed to be compassionate to those who experience extreme pain.
Evidence — Glasgow Sonnet #1 (2)
Morgan effectively shows the painful experiences of the inhabitants of this area in Glasgow, with this quote:
”Four storeys have no windows left to smash,”
This quote describes how many people have robbed and smashed these tenement buildings, making them impossible to live in. This emphasises the unstableness of this area, and how unsafe it is. This highlights the painful experience that these people go through.
He also makes this clear with:
”mother and daughter the last mistresses”
Morgan uses irony in the word ‘mistresses’, which has connotations of owners or caretakers of something valuable, but in reality, the house that the women own nothing worth having, highlighting the painful experience of suffering, even in your own home.
Evidence — In The Snack-Bar (4)
Morgan describes a painful experience when the old and frail asks for help to the toilet:
”I want — to go to the — toilet.”
The pauses in his speech emphasises how speech is difficult due to his weak health. It also highlights how embarrassed he feels to ask someone to help him with the toilet. This further emphasises his painful experience with asking people for embarrassing requests.
He describes another one of the man’s painful experiences:
”His life depends on may who would evade him”
The word “evade” has connotations of avoiding and staying away from something which emphasises how people want to avoid his situation and avoid helping him for their own ease. This highlights his painful experience of being neglected by other people, and having to ask those same people for help.
