quotes and analysis Flashcards
“to stub an oar on a rock where none should be”
this emphasises his experience and creates tension.
tells us he had bumped into something grey and immobile.
also shows how surprised/unsettled he is to find this ‘rock’ in a familiar place.
“to have it rise with a slounge out of the sea”
the poet uses neologism (made-up word) to make us think of words like ‘slow’ and ‘lounge’.
this changes our view about the shark - it’s not as dangerous
“is a thing that happened once (too often) to me.”
the poet uses a side remark directly to the reader.
“once” tells us how unique/unusual the experience was.
the side remark states that once was enough.
“but not too often - though enough. i count as gain”
the poet is contradicting himself as he is looking back on the experience and he sees value to it.
“gain” - wc: tells us that his experience was positive, provoking maccaig to start thinking deeply about life
“that once i met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain”
“met” wc: maccaig changed his tone.
the poet who was initially frightened has formed a friendly connection to the shark.
alliteration/onomatopoeia echoes the sound of rain hitting the water.
the imagery created suggests many droplets hitting the sea.
“that room sized monster with a matchbox brain”
“room sized” emphasises the sheer size and bulk of the shark.
“monster” again emphasises the size.
this enormous animal has a tiny brain.
there is humour stemming from the contrast in size.
“he displaced more than water. he shoggled me”
“displaced” - wc: could reflect the poets emotions now - he’s conflicted.
“shoggled” - wc: the word tells us literally that maccaig is shaking. also metaphorically tells us the shark challenged the poet to rethink his life
“centuries back - this decadent townee”
he’s starting to explore ideas of evolution.
it also implies that the narrator is thinking about the past.
“shook on a wrong branch of his family tree”
he was shaken by the encounter/ not fear now but ideas about himself and the human role.
reference to family tree harks back to the past and the ancestors both humans and sharks have in common.
“swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring”
“swish” - onomatopoeia: suggest the sound of moving water.
the process of maccaig’s feelings/thoughts bumping into the shark, he was scared and confused, (dirt swishing) then everything became clearer.
“is all the clearer. i saw me, in one fling”
“fling” - wc: self deprecating maccaig pictures himself as something evolution just flung out.
also the word suggests that this idea came to him suddenly.
“emerging from the slime of everything”
“slime” - wc: emphasises the basis of our beginning whereas the word ‘everything’ shows how indistinct humans were from other species.
“so who’s the monster? the thought made me grow pale”
“so who’s the monster?” - rhetorical question: this is the question the whole poem has been leading up to.
the answer is shocking, humanity is the real monster.
it is humans who murder/ destroy and start wars.
maccaig doesn’t say this explicitly wanting us to think on it.
“for twenty seconds while, sail after sail”
the poet, this human with intelligence needs time to think about the answer
